Hi, all. The IT department that oversees FileMaker where I work (a non-IT dept at a public university) has long had an adversarial stance re: FM and data security and has now decided to remove the local FM server in use in the next few months. Unfortunately, I don't have any details at the moment as to what the security issue(s) is/are being cited, and I'm not aware of a security breach.

I'm a little fuzzy on the sign-in protocol for the FM solutions hosted on our server (SSO? but it utilizes the university's credential validation process) that we were set up with, so I plan to re-post with that info, when/if I find out more about the currently-vague security issue(s). 

My questions: Is this a common stance or fear with some IT departments, especially where there is FERPA data or HIPAA data involved? And if so, why? I reached out to a staff member at another college at the same university, and he said that their IT department had an adversarial stance as well, although he didn't mention if it was directly related to security. (They are still using FileMaker, because it was the best solution for their needs; unsure if they house FERPA/HIPAA in their solutions.)

I want to make a strong argument for keeping FileMaker, since I and others in my dept rely on it heavily for our workflows, and have been for decades. But I'm not sure where to start.

I also have a suspicion that the security issue is the ostensible reason, and that actually it's become a budget issue.

There really is not enough information here to make a definitive recommendation. But as you suggest,many IT Departments have an adversarial stance against the FileMaker Platform.  In my view that is largely a result of lack knowledge.

 

Over the years Wim Decorte and I have published a wide variety of White Papers and BLOGS on FileMaker Platform Security issues, including the Authentication processes.  That information can be found here:

https://fmforums.com/files/category/4-white-papers/ and https://fmforums.com/blogs/blog/13-filemaker-security-blog/

 

So, when you have further information, please come back and advise us.

The FileMaker Platform can be made very secure. 

 

Steven H. Blackwell

Platinum Member Emeritus

 

A coda, sort of: I left the organization awhile ago and haven't had communication since. But they (not the IT area) were leaning toward migrating to FMP cloud.