Optimized UI and Built-in Security Can Boost MFT Usage; Minimize Risk

Human behavior can be the driving force behind whether a software solution, such as Managed File Transfer (MFT), is successfully adopted by employees or is discarded in favor of familiar, or even clunky, legacy script solutions. Organizations weighing their file transfer software options should consider the solution’s user interface (UI), as well as its built-in security features and controls to maximize their investment and minimize threats to data.

Infallible Humans Put Sensitive Files and Bottom Lines at Risk

As headlines attest, the “insider” risk of human error, as opposed to that of outside threat actors, is often the root cause of mistakes around exchanging data. Whether an employee sends a sensitive file to an unauthorized person, or a batch of files containing PII (Personal Identifiable Information) that should be encrypted is left unprotected and is intercepted in transit, the risk factor goes up with human interaction (or non-interaction) around the file transfer process.

Whether organizations transfer files with an on-premises solution, in the cloud, or via a hybrid configuration, any business is vulnerable to insider risks. Looking at just cloud file transfers, where a simple key stroke can wreak havoc, the 2023 Thales Global Cloud Security Study of 3,000 IT and security professionals confirmed that the leading cause of reported data breaches was human error, at 55%. An often-cited statistic from Verizon’s Data Breach Investigation Report, shows that human error lies behind 74% of incidents – cloud or otherwise.

These errors pack a financial punch. IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach Report sheds light on the monetary impact of a breach. In 2023, data breach costs reached an all-time average high of USD 4.45 million, with the average price tag up 15.3% from 2020. While not every business will experience a financial toll in the millions, the hit to any organization’s reputation, productivity, and bottom line can be substantial. As cybercriminals get smarter and the volume of data exchanged grows, costs are bound to continue to climb, no matter the business size.

A secure file transfer solution with built-in security features and functionality built with a user interface (UI) that is both intuitive and full featured is one organizations can more confidently count on to be utilized. Technology can do a lot on its own, but software that takes people and the way they work into consideration can help make consistent use of MFT the expected process for all employees exchanging sensitive files. Choosing an MFT solution with built-in alerting methods, granular role-based access controls (RBAC), extensive auditing, and integration to other security solutions all help drive user adoption and enhance an organization’s security posture.

UI Matters for MFT Adoption

Given that the risks of human error are so high, providing employees with a user-friendly, goof-proof, secure way to send business-critical files, while keeping business rolling efficiently is essential. Security, automation, and controls all need to work together to overcome the risk that comes when people are part of a process.

So why do employees and organizations take chances with free, or unsecure file transfer solutions? The reasons for not adopting a secure file transfer method are varied – from still trusting in an existing or older solution’s ability to protect data (even though older methods such as FTP haven’t been updated security-wise in decades), to lack of time and resources to evaluate more secure options to pricing concerns to believing a new solution will be too complex.

What Makes for a Helpful UI for an MFT Solution?

The features built into an MFT solution can help bolster usage while securing data exchanges. Organizational users today expect their software solutions to have a solid user experience and accessible UI:

• Accessible navigation guides users through the flow of information in the UI and helps them complete their tasks efficiently, boosting the user experience.
• Admin controls include functionality such as user management, access control, system configuration, monitoring, and reporting tools. These designs should be helpful for administrators and typically require authentication to access to ensure security.
• Despite UIs being different for diverse groups of people, they all have one thing in common: to make the user achieve their desired outcome. A great UI with a logical workflow keeps the cognitive drain as low as possible.

The most recognized UI elements include buttons, menus, and tabs. Several others would be accordions, badges, breadcrumbs, card components, and confirmation dialogs, just to name a few. Responsive design helps ensure the application looks its best on cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop screens.

As the headlines and the data confirm, a safer, easier way to send files is needed, but what does that solution have that other solutions don’t? MFT supporting multiple deployment environments – on-premises, in the cloud, as a hybrid or as a MFTaaS solution provides the greatest flexibility to organizations. And a UI that helps those “less-techie” employees jump right into advanced file transfer processes and workflows with multiple steps and triggers is a boon.

Choosing an MFT solution with built-in alerting methods, granular role-based access controls (RBAC), extensive auditing, and integration to other security solutions can all also help drive user adoption and enhance an organization’s security posture.

Features and Controls to be Baked into User-Friendly, Secure MFT Solution

Built-in security controls and features to look for in a turn-key file transfer solution:

• Encryption standards
• Ability to segment organization into multiple security zones
• Defining of permissions for separation of duties
• Tracking and reporting of file transfer activity and user events
• Automation functionality
• Integration with threat protection and data loss prevention (DLP) applications
• Secure email
• Secure folders
• Granular control

All these features and controls elevate a file transfer solution above the fray in data protection and solution adoption. In addition, a robust solution should:

• Minimize touchpoints: One way to reduce risk is to reduce the number of times an employee needs to interact with a sensitive file. Automated workflows can take over many associated tasks and feature built-in schedulers as well as the ability to set up multi-step projects, such as retrieving data on a prescheduled, regular basis from a database server, converting that data into an Excel file to be encrypted then sending that file to authorized recipients or even to another SFTP server.
• Centralize the file transfer process: With a robust MFT solution creating, monitoring, scheduling, and processing the hundreds or thousands of files exchanged in and out of organizations can be done with a single solution console and with a single vendor, eliminating the need to ensure compatibility amongst various solutions and vendors.
• Take advantage of automation: With automated workflows, the chance of accidental sends goes down, resources are used more efficiently, and process can be standardized, no more ‘Lisa does it this way, but I’m not sure if it meets our compliance requirements or not’ or ‘Jacob has always used a different application that the rest of the team, but his files seem to get where they are going’ iffy scenarios, where auditing, security, and reliability are questionable.
• Make the interface user-friendly: A browser-based user interface is one that is familiar, and it can get new users up and running with a shorter learning curve to send files securely. When the demands of using a solution are eased, the barriers to using it come down.
• Incorporate built-in encryption support: For the most flexibility in exchanging files within and outside of the organization, MFT should support strong encryption standards such as AS2/AS3/AS4, Open PGP, ZIP with AES, SFTP, FTPS, PeSIT, and HTTPS.

 MFT Automation Can Do the Heavy Lifting on Risk Reduction and Efficiency

Taking manual tasks out of the equation and automating them can help reduce potential risks around file transfers. Encryption, for example, is no longer an “if” but rather a “which protocol” scenario when that security aspect is automated. Nor is choosing a key or waiting for the verification process a dicey scenario when automatic encryption becomes the norm. According to the Thales survey, just 22% of respondents reported that 60% or more of their cloud data is encrypted, a percentage that could go up with improved UI and automatic, built-in security controls.

In addition, the ability to quickly construct workflows with unlimited steps with no programming skills and customize them for unique organizational needs and use cases can run back-to-back, complex processes for greater efficiency, adding to the ROI of a robust transfer solution.

Files can also be monitored for any security events by location or event for greater transparency and additional actions can be triggered whenever the file monitor detects changes to the files within the targeted folders.

Mitigate Risks by Adopting Security Best Practices for Transferring Data

“Here’s your new software, now start using it,” is not going to cut it if organizations want to ensure their business-critical and sensitive data is exchanged securely. Incorporating some best practices will go a lot further in ensuring that level of cybersecurity.

1. Communicate new policies for adoption ahead of time.
2. Invest in training users and adopting best practices that save both time and headaches.
3. Consider layering security solutions to automate the decision-making surrounding sensitive data. A Threat Protection engine like Clearswift ICAP Gateway can help ensure threats are kept out, or sensitive data is stopped before it leaves the organization.
4. Check in with teams after deploying new tools to address any adoption issues.
5. Using endpoint tools to validate end user risk and compliance can serve as an automated and scalable way to ensure policies are being followed.