What is Secure File Transfer in The Cloud and Why Does it Matter

In a perfect world, moving files from point A to B is supposed to be effortless. It could be done, but:

• Just don’t let it be valuable information.
• Don’t do it over the cloud.
• Eliminate the prospect of malicious attackers.

Unfortunately, our world isn’t anywhere near perfect. We live in a world where running a business without the prospect of these three features is an impossibility.

For that reason, secure file transfer is right up there with rocket science; it’s marred by a myriad of vulnerabilities, heaps of compliance requirements, inefficient workflows and is always a few seconds from disaster.

This makes secure file transfer across the cloud a bad dream for most organizations. If file transfer isn’t giving you nightmares, then it’s giving you sleepless nights instead.

You just found what you were looking for. This piece will tell you everything you need to know about secure file transfer and why it’s important now more than ever.

What Exactly is Secure File Transfer Over the Cloud?

Secure file transfer refers to a blend of protocols, hardware and software you leverage to secure the transfer of your files across the cloud.

For your file transfer system to be secure, it should:

• Protect your files in transit.
• Protect your files at rest.
• Make compliance with file transfer regulations easier.
• Do all this efficiently without inflating your wage bill.

A Brief History of Secure File Transfer

We could write an entire book about the history of file transfer. For the sake of your time, however, we’ll cover what’s essential.

In the ’70s, secure file transfer mostly meant just file transfer: The movement of files between two endpoints.

This was the physical movement of files within organizations. Those were the days when

“I thought I left the diskette on your desk,” and lost files were the greatest fears in any organization.

The ’80s came with the rise of the first cyberattacks, and as a result, the first file transfer protocol (FTP and Telnet) came to be.

However, most of these file transfer protocols were based on securing files and data at rest through access control. The “file in transit” capabilities of these systems ranged from weak to non-existent.

Then came the 21st century, which saw the rise of the cloud and the need to secure data in transit and transfer.

These circumstances would lead to more advanced file transfer protocols such as SFTP and solutions such as Managed File Transfer (MFT).

Why Secure File Transfer Over the Cloud Matters

Secure file transfer is important now more than ever. Whichever way you look, the stakes are rising—and so are the risks and benefits of secure file transfer in a cloud-based ecosystem.

This has sent most firms in a frantic search for next-generation and multi-layered defenses to mitigate these risks, gain competitive advantage and guarantee the security of their file transfer.

If you’ve been on the fence about securing your file transfer, now’s the best time to get on this bandwagon because:

1. The Cloud Ecosystem is Growing Exponentially (You Should, Too)

It’s almost impossible to run a business in 2022 without leveraging some aspect of the cloud. If you’re not on the cloud, then your customers, employees and third-party proprietors are.

You’ve probably met “naysayers” who swear by legacy systems but still write and store their thought pieces on Google Docs.

Like you’ve never seen before, these record:

• Volumes of data being transferred across the cloud.
• Endpoints and interconnected mobile devices.
• Third-party software that poses security threats on their own.

That said, exponential growth isn’t necessarily a good thing.

First, growth makes managing file transfer a nightmare for several organizations. That’s not all. Given the low barrier of entry, brief learning curve and ease of transition to the cloud, many firms go full throttle, forgetting the “security aspect” of the cloud entirely.

This exposes your data at rest and in transit to severe risk.

That said, it necessitates the need for a robust and secure file transfer system to keep up with the growth of your cloud ecosystem.

Embracing a secure file transfer system allows you to:

• Consolidate all aspects of your cloud under a single umbrella.
• Scale your cloud security together with your systems.
• Automate growing redundant tasks out of your file security workflows.

2. Regulations Galore…And It’s Only Getting Worse

If you thought that government regulations in the 2010s were unbearable, wait until you meet them in the 2020s.

Now that other nations are following in the footsteps of GDPR, companies and executives alike are terrified of the future of the regulatory landscape.

So much so that it shows in the statistics:

According to a study, adapting to regulatory change is the seventh largest reason for software and hardware spending by IT firms.

You’re probably wondering where regulatory compliance and secure file transfer in the cloud cross paths.

Well, a secure file transfer system such as Managed File Transfer (MFT) helps:

• Keep Audits of Your File Transfer Activities

A secure file transfer allows you to keep track of all your file transfer activities through an audit trail for all your cloud-based file transfer activities.

Such an audit trail allows you to track file activity, user activity and system changes while automating documentation for regulatory compliance.

• Secure Files While in Transit

Most data security and privacy regulations require that you protect your client’s data both at rest and in transit.

A secure file transfer system uses encryption and access control features to provide data privacy for your files in transit.

• Manage Access Control

With the rise of remote work and the Internet of Things, loose and insecure endpoints create security risks for files at rest.

Regulatory compliance requires strict access control for data at rest which you can achieve through a secure file transfer system.

3. Malicious Users Have Never Been This Powerful

At this rate, it’s not only your competitors you should be worried about. Cyber attackers are leveling up and doing everything that you should be doing.

The writing is on the wall, and we’ve never had such a sophisticated team of cyber attackers. They’re now:

• Upgrading to more efficient systems.
• Investing in state of the art cloud hardware and software.
• Outsourcing to services such as Ransomware as a Service.
• Investing and seeing a future in the cloud.

Long story short, cyber attackers are doing everything possible to get access to your cloud data. This bleak reality leads us to one question:

When they come for your file transfer, will they find you prepared?

Outside secure file transfer, your options are limited when it comes to countering the looming threat of cybercrime.

One thing you can do is to follow in their footsteps and learn from cyber attackers. You can:

• Upgrade to more efficient secure file transfer systems.
• Invest in state of the art Managed File Transfer software such as MOVEit.
• Embrace the cloud as the future.

4. Your Customers Now Care

Whether you run a B2B business or a B2C enterprise, one thing is clear: Your customers care about their data security now more than ever.

Long gone are the days when people couldn’t wait to get over with signing user agreements or skim through the fine print.

Nowadays, your customers are very deliberate, and they want proof that their data is secure both at rest and in transit.

Your clients care about how you secure their information on the cloud, your regulatory compliance and the general robustness of your internal systems.

And it’s not just your customers you should be worried about.

Investors and seed money merchants alike want to know how secure cloud data transfer is in your organization before they throw money at it.

However, this is nothing you should worry about. By investing in a secure file transfer in the cloud, you get to assure your customers and gain a competitive advantage over your peers while at it.

5. The Certainty of Remote Working and Its Long List of Vulnerabilities

You’re probably tired of hearing about working from home. Terms such as “remote work” and the “future of work” have become buzzwords that people will throw in any conversation.

However, one aspect of this conversation rarely gets covered, which is file transfer across remote endpoints in organizations.

First, the entire remote working was unanticipated, throwing the gradual cloud migration journey of several firms into premature birth.

Most companies went remote in a few months without taking secure file transfer into account. Two years later, the chickens are coming home to roost in the form of DDOS attacks and whatnot.

Now that work from home is inevitable, you have the privilege of learning from mistakes your colleagues made two years ago.

Don’t rush into remote working without taking the necessary steps to secure your file transfer over the cloud and assure yourself of security.

That’s A Lot, But It’s Nothing Managed File Transfer Can’t Handle

You’ve seen why secure file transfer matters. However, it would be unfair to give you all that information without telling you how to secure your file transfer in the cloud.

This is where managed file transfer comes in.

Managed File Transfer (MFT) is a solution that allows you to consolidate, encrypt and manage all your file transfers and their subsequent workflows from a single point.

That said, Managed File Transfer (MFT) will be the closest you’ll ever get to secure file transfer perfection because it:

• Automates Your Secure File Transfer Workflows

Responsible for 90% of all cyber-attacks, human beings are the largest vulnerability in your cloud file transfer infrastructure.

Fortunately, Managed File Transfer(MFT) allows you to automate mundane tasks by creating file-based tasks and triggers with little to no programming.

• Encrypts Your Files at Rest and In Transit

Managed File transfer leverages the latest file transfer and encryption protocols to protect your files in transit and at rest with layers of encryption.

An encrypted system allows you to avoid file-sharing inefficiencies and most essentially protect your data in transit.

• Assures Ease of Compliance

Complying with the ever-changing regulatory environment has never been this easy with a Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution.

The activity tracking and tamper-evident logging features that come with MFT make it easy to comply with sales level agreements (SLAs) and GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA regulations.

The Best Time To Secure Your Cloud Transfer Was Yesterday; The Second Best Time is Now

Are you in the market for an effective Managed File Transfer Solution? Take one more look at your checklist. Does it have the following?

• Next level workflow automation.
• Ease of use.
• Secure end-user collaboration.
• State-of-the-art compliance.

Well, your search for an effective file transfer solution ends here. MOVEit Managed File Transfer Software is what you’ve been searching for.

Give MOVEit a try today. We're convinced that if you give our solution a chance, you'll fall head over heels in love with it—the first time.

Start a free trial, get a quote or explore the wonderful world of MOVEit today!