In a recently published blog detailing findings from Fortra’s inaugural 2024 Fortra State of Cybersecurity Survey, top takeaways revealed the concerns and trends of industry insiders, including:
What are the top 5 security risks facing your organization in the next 6-12 months?
- Reviewing the top security risks facing organizations, 81% saw phishing and smishing as a top security risk, with ransomware and malware coming in right behind at 76%
- Accidental data loss or leakage was cited by 63% of respondents as a top security risk
- Third-party exposure was identified by 52% of respondents
And respondents were leaning heavily into hybrid cloud environments for their organizations.
Cyberattack Mini-Refresher
As a quick refresher, phishing is tricking individuals into clicking on malicious links in emails or on the web to steal logins, passwords, or personal information. Smishing is a text-based version of phishing, with scammers posing as trusted companies to get individuals to reveal sensitive or personal information such as credit card numbers or passwords. Malware is intrusive software hackers use to steal data or to damage computer systems. Ransomware is software designed to hold information hostage until a payoff is made.
As the report indicates, the rise of AI makes these tactics harder to detect and prevent.
How MFT Can Help Address Top Cybersecurity Concerns
With the majority of respondents concerned about the impact of malware, ransomware, and pervasive phishing/smishing attacks, multiple security measures – from layering solutions like secure file transfer, secure content engines, and secure digital rights management, to educating employees on cybersecurity threats – are needed to help avoid data breaches stemming from these practices.
“When it comes to addressing cybersecurity risks, such as ransomware and malware, organizations that take a proactive strategy towards how they store, transfer, and secure the data they are entrusted with are miles ahead of many organizations in prevention,” said Chris Spargen, Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering, Fortra. “It’s prudent to ensure any solutions implemented to secure sensitive data transfers can screen data streaming into the enterprise for these risks. This usually combines an MFT platform, which centralizes B2B, A2A, and P2P transfers, and leverages multiple AV engines to screen the data coming in to ensure it’s clean. Once it passes multiple checks, it moves on for its purpose downstream.”
A secure managed file transfer (MFT) solution, such as Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT, can help organizations tackle the risks that can come with exchanging data. The file transfer solution is a key component of Fortra’s SFT Threat Protection bundle, which gives organizations a safer way to collaborate without exposing systems to the risks of malware entering the organization and hidden threats within file transfers.
This threat protection combination of managed file transfer, threat protection, antivirus and malware protection, deep content inspection, adaptive data loss prevention and a Secure ICAP Gateway, allows for the inspection of files transferred via managed file transfer for any threats. Threat protection can help prevent the risks of malware and ransomware attempts as the inspection of files would sniff out any hidden malware, rejecting malicious data before it enters your environment.
Here’s how SFT Threat Protection helps mitigate risks:
- Stops malware from entering your environment by scanning all inbound file transfers: Turn on GoAnywhere’s anti-virus protection delivered through the Secure ICAP Gateway. GoAnywhere is unique in its ability to deny the file ever being written to disk if it contains malware.
- Blocks files with sensitive data from being shared: Files containing PII (personally identifiable information) or other sensitive data identified by the organization’s policy are prevented from being transferred.
- Redacts sensitive data from being shared: Embedded malware, triggered executables, or macros that could hold sensitive data hostage are detected and automatically stripped out of content to be shared via MFT. “Clean” content is allowed to continue to be transferred so that business continues uninterrupted.
Additional Cybersecurity Concerns MFT Can Help Alleviate
Additional survey findings show Accidental Data Loss/Data Leakage garnered 63% of survey respondents' attention, with third-party exposure rounding out the top five with 52%. Taking Threat Protection to the next level, our Zero Trust File Transfer solution combines Digital Rights Management (DRM) to complement Secure ICAP Gateway with Managed File Transfer for the ultimate approach to protect your data.
We know around 80% of security incidents involve some level of human error, so let us take the scenario of an employee exposing sensitive content by mistake or through meta data hidden in files. By layering Managed File Transfer, Secure ICAP Gateway, and DRM tools, you can automatically safeguard your most sensitive assets to ensure sensitive data that leaves your environment stays with the intended recipient:
This security combines to protect and control your sensitive data beyond your network and can:
- Automatically secure your sensitive data when it is shared internally and externally
- Track every time data is accessed throughout its lifecycle
- Audit - mitigate compliance risks with a full audit trail
- Revoke access to sensitive data shared with departing employees and third parties
Related Reading: Why is it Smart to Bundle Cybersecurity Solutions?
How MFT Helps Address the Need for Hybrid Cloud Solutions
As the Fortra survey detailed, the hybrid cloud is the preferred mode of operations for 64%of respondents. To operate effectively, organizations seeking a hybrid set up will want to ensure that software they need to use day to day can support both on-premises as well as cloud deployment.
With the hybrid cloud environment, a combination of an on-premises or private data center and the public cloud provides the best of both worlds. Organizations utilizing this combination can share data between the two environments, often keeping the most sensitive data inside the organization. “Not all cloud-first developed solutions can deftly manage the on-premises and cloud dance effectively, however,” noted Spargen.
While going all in on the cloud for essential day to day operations such as file transfers is appealing, some organizations are bound by compliance requirements to maintain an on-premises footprint to some degree and can’t fully launch cloud-ward, thus increasing the demand for solutions that are adept at both environments (as two-thirds of respondents noted they need).
A comprehensive secure file transfer solution, like GoAnywhere MFT, which is deployment-flexible, executes the on-premises/cloud dance seamlessly with the security and control organizations and their trading partners need when transferring files between the two options. “Unlike some cloud-native solutions, GoAnywhere MFT evolved to integrate cloud-based offerings after maturing for decades addressing on-premises problems the enterprise demanded,” noted Spargen. He added, “When it comes to the ultimate flexibility for hybrid cloud, solutions that can bat from both sides of the plate are poised to offer the most flexible approach that makes hybrid cloud adoption easier.”
“A bonus for GoAnywhere is the solution’s powerful Agents, which transcend basic file transfer endpoints and allow customers to run localized powerful automation workflows. This approach offers a single interface to manage your MFT environment in a hybrid cloud deployment with multiple Agents running localized automation and offering integration beyond file transfers,” added Spargen.
Whatever your organization's top cybersecurity concerns are, managed file transfer delivers a secure way to conduct the day-to-day business of exchanging sensitive, business-critical data within and outside your organization.
