Companies use insecure technology for critical information transfers

With global organizations depending on the sharing of sensitive information to support everything from financial transactions to patient care records, many believe they are relying on secure methods to exchange data with trusted partners. But are they? Cyber-Ark Software conducted research to better understand how organizations transfer sensitive documents with external partners.

Based on the research, a vast majority of respondents1 (80 percent), believed they were using secure methods to exchange files internally and between third party vendors. However, when questioned in more detail, only 13 percent were actually using safe, auditable transfer processes.

These findings indicate a significant and alarming gap between perceived security, and real vulnerability. pecifically, the findings showed that respondents typically relied on FTP technology (43 percent), “secure email” (32 percent), regular email (20 percent), courier services (11 percent) and postal service (9 percent) to handle data transmission.

“As data breaches continue to be increasingly prevalent, costly and damaging, organisations must step up their efforts to ensure that their sensitive data is being exchanged and transferred in a secure manner that also meets audit and compliance requirements,” said Udi Mokady, CEO of Cyber-Ark Software. “However, the survey findings clearly demonstrate that the most common methods used for file transfer are often the least secure, and lack manageability and governance.”