Ad-Hoc Filesharing Services Add Risk

Make no mistake - unintentional errors by employees and supply chain partners are a leading cause of data breaches.

The uncontrolled use of ad-hoc file sharing services (e.g. WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Cerberus FTP Server, and ShareFile) significantly increases the risk of employees making mistakes and for those mistakes to go unnoticed.

Here then are seven reasons why organisations should reconsider their use of ad-hoc cloud file sharing services.

1.      They may not enforce automatic file encryption. A key means of preventing your data falling into the wrong hands is to ensure it’s always encrypted, both in transit, as well as when it’s being stored. A secure Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution can automatically encrypt your data.

2.      Dubious key and certificate management. Beyond encryption of the file being transferred, some cloud applications leave files open to malicious intent by failing to maintain strong keys and certificates.

3.      They may create compliance gaps. Not all cloud platforms meet regulatory requirements around file transfers, leaving your organisation liable for financial, legal, and reputational damages. 

4.      Limited data control.Unsupervised file sharing and collaboration can lead to files being sent to or accessed by unauthorised individuals. With many cloud-based solutions, once files are transferred, there’s no ongoing control over their use. A secure MFT provides ongoing safeguards with tight controls on who can access, edit, and transfer files, and for how long.

5.      No workflow automation. MFT solutions such as GoAnywhere MFT simplify and automate file transfer processes, with multi-step workflows to execute repetitive, manual tasks. "Projects" can be easily created by dragging and dropping modules which define business processes to seamlessly transfer files, eliminating the need for complicated scripting or programming.  For example: a Project can be created to retrieve encrypted data from a server, decrypt it, read file contents and submit them to a downstream internal application. The file can also be altered, added to, re-encrypted, and then sent to another external SFTP server.

6.       Lack of centralised user management.Cloud file sharing solutions may not provide a comprehensive and easy to use dashboard for administrators to control access, authentication, and encryption of sensitive files. The more tools and applications that must be coordinated, the greater the risk of human or systems error. A robust MFT solution manages all types of file-send situations, including ad-hoc emails, large files, and batch files.

7.      Threat detection and management.Protecting your organisation from viruses, malware, ransomware, Advanced Persistent Threats, and banned media types requires constant vigilance.  Our Advanced Threat Protection can automatically block these threats and remove the element of human error from your risk profile.

Local Expertise Available

If you’d like to discuss removing the risk of ad-hoc file sharing applications from your organisation, please feel welcome to contact me. I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion, demonstrate the capabilities of the world’s most advanced MFT, and even offer you a zero-cost Proof of Concept.

At Generic Systems Australia, we’re your local experts in secure Managed File Transfer.