Compfair, an IT solution company based in Germany, recently partnered with IS Decisions. Compfair works across German businesses in most sectors, providing IT security solutions and website development. The company prides itself on ‘fair’ IT, ensuring that clients get exactly what they need for a fair price, as is reflected in the company name.
The Challenge
A need to increase visibility of file activity
One of Compfair’s customers, a legal firm based in Germany, has a duty to secure and safeguard its files and folders on the company network — especially given the extremely sensitive nature of client data.
With 60 employees spread over multiple sites in north Germany accessing more than 30,000 files and folders, the firm was struggling to get visibility and insights into what exactly was happening with those files and folders. The IT team could not explain why some files and folders would, on occasion, simply disappear or somehow move to another location unexpectedly. The team also had no way of knowing if files or folders had been copied or leaked, so in the event of a security breach where information could fall into the wrong hands, the firm would struggle to get to the source of the issue.
Given the rise of ransomware and other increasingly smarter hacking techniques, the company needed a better way to protect files and folders from malicious and accidental employee activity, which could very easily lead to a serious security breach.
The Solution
A simple but powerful solution — straightforward to deploy, easy to use
On behalf of the company, Compfair researched the IT security software market for solutions that would enable its customer to gain greater visibility into file and folder activity, and signed up for a few free trials with different vendors. In March 2016, Compfair selected IS Decisions’s FileAudit software because of its usability, setup simplicity and cost effectiveness compared with alternatives.
I like solutions that are easy to use, so we chose FileAudit because of its usability and intuitive interface. It’s so easy to use, a drunk person could use it at 2:00am and not get confused by it. (IS Decisions editor: we don’t recommend trying this)
Richard Marnau
Compfair CEO
FileAudit opened up the company’s eyes and ears to what happens with files and folders on its network with four main features:
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Real-time monitoring:
The software automatically logs every employee’s file access, edits, deletions and movements — all in real time
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Automatic email alerts:
IT administrators receive an email when anything something suspicious happens on the network, for example if an employee deletes files en masse or accesses a particularly sensitive file
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File server intelligence:
The IT team receives regular audit reports via email with information on whatever they deem to be important, for example what files certain employees have deleted that day
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Non-IT delegation:
IT administrators can grant access to the software’s features for third-party auditors or company executives outside of the IT department
FileAudit was simple to set up alongside the company’s existing systems, and was up and running and fully configured to the customer’s needs within half an hour of starting the installation.
The email alerts in particular are a killer feature for addressing ransomware, which is a growing threat to any business, and a key reason as to why we selected FileAudit for our client.
Richard Marnau
Compfair CEO
The Benefits
Providing a more secure network with FileAudit
Being able to track file and folder access on a very granular level for each employee has enabled the company to:
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Reduce the risk of ransomware and external attack:
Email alerts to suspicious behaviour help IT administrators to nip potential security breaches in the bud, before information falls into the wrong hands
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Manage file and folder access easily:
The customer has found FileAudit to be incredibly easy to use, saving a significant amount of time and money for the IT department
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Simplify security auditing processes:
The regular audit reports provide everything the company needs to know about data access security and make adjustments accordingly to settings when the business’s priorities change
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Educate other areas of the business:
Through non-IT delegation, senior executives and other non-IT personnel can delve into the company’s security to assess situations — which helps raise awareness of user security
It’s a solution that works.
For us as a reseller, FileAudit was a very easy sell because it simply does the job. It’s also very cost effective, simple to set up, and doesn’t get in the way of employees going about their business — setting the software apart from any of the other solutions we explored.
This is the first time we’ve sold FileAudit to a client and, based on their positive feedback, I would absolutely recommend the software to other businesses who are looking to address network security or who need to prove compliance to industry regulation.
Richard Marnau
Compfair CEO