Why You Ought to Incorporate MFT into Your Cybersecurity Strategy
What is Managed File Transfer Software?
At its core, Managed File Transfer (MFT) is a secure file transfer platform that uses administrative controls, industry standard file transfer protocols, encryption standards (like Open PGP and AES) to protect data in transit and at rest, and automation capabilities to help ensure organizations can securely exchange various types of sensitive data.
Managed file transfer solutions provide a more secure method of file transfer than standard file transfer protocol (FTP) and usually includes an interface and functionality that enables control and visibility.
MFT can be especially beneficial if your organization requires:
The ability to securely and reliably exchange files with business partners, including secure file sharing.
Control and visibility over your data movements and IT infrastructure.
A replacement for high maintenance, outdated, or non-compliant file transfer methods.
Meeting compliance regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, HITECH, GDPR, SOX, and others.
Communication and engagement with any of the industry-standard protocols such as FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, AS2, and SFTP.
Related Reading: What is Managed File Transfer (MFT)?
What Does "Managed" Mean?
Essentially, the "managed" in managed file transfer refers to how the software automates and streamlines the exchange of data for you. This helps to reduce manual processes and eliminates the need for any legacy tools and scripts you might have. Data (including documents, images, videos, and other files) can also be exchanged via MFT across your private networks, systems, applications, partners, and cloud environments from a single point of administration.
Related Reading: 5 Reasons to Use Manage File Transfer
MFT in Your Cybersecurity Strategy
MFT software isn’t just for sending files securely from point A to point B. It comes equipped with many features and modules that can be used to automate processes, track file transfer activity, and more that can be beneficial to your cybersecurity strategy.
Here are a few key features available in most MFT solutions that can help you avoid a successful data breach:
File Encryption
Encryption is a method of encoding information so that it’s unusable until decrypted – giving only authorized parties the keys to read or access that data. Encrypting files helps to prevent unauthorized access or tampering while data is in transit or at rest, depending on the method used.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of encryption, many organizations find themselves at the other end of a data breach.
MFT solutions use integrated encryption technologies like Open PGP, SSL, SSH, and AES to secure sensitive data. Most also include a key manager that allows you to create, import, export, and manage your keys and certificates within the product.
File Transfer Automation
User errors and manual processes can also cause data breaches. By automating the encryption and exchange of sensitive files, processes and workflows will run without user intervention. This is especially useful when dealing with a high volume of file transfers. With automation, files will get where they need to go (whether its trading partners, remote locations, or even the cloud), and every file will be encrypted out of the gate.
Auditing & Reporting
Managed file transfer solutions support auditing and reporting for compliance needs. All file transfer and administrator activity is easily stored and searchable.
With the Auditing and Reporting Module (ARM), you can capture all of the transactions passing through the EFT platform, query the data and view reports from the administrative console. You can analyze the captured data immediately using the preconfigured reports or custom design your own with the included report designers.
Watch this: Tutorial on the Auditing and Reporting Module (ARM) with Globalscape EFT Arcus
So, How Should You Get Started?
Here are five steps we recommend taking to get started on incorporating MFT into your cybersecurity strategy:
Complete an audit of your current cybersecurity practices. Take note of which areas might be putting you at risk, which areas are good to go, and which areas could use some improvement.
Review your data breach and incident response plan. If you don’t have one yet, now is an ideal time to create one.
Once you’ve looked at your incident response plan, read our MFT Buyer’s Guide for everything you need to know about finding, evaluating, and purchasing an MFT solution.
See how Globalscape works within your organization by requesting a demo of EFT.
Build better connections between your network and web/cloud applications. If you decide to add MFT to your cybersecurity strategy, built-in cloud integrations are a key thing to have incorporated.