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Level Up Your Managed File Transfer Game to Achieve and Maintain GDPR Compliance

by Bob Ertl updated August 26, 2023 GDPR Compliance

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Managed file transfer (MFT) manages, automates, and streamlines data exchanges between users, systems, and enterprises, in a secure and controlled environment, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the data while protecting it in transit and at rest. The GDPR, a privacy law implemented in the European Union (EU), regulates how companies handle and protect EU citizens’ data and provides stiff penalties for noncompliance. It grants individuals more control over their data, including the right to access, rectify, and erase their data.

MFT plays a crucial role in helping organizations transfer data to, or receive data from, trusted third parties. These files inevitably contain EU citizens’ personally identifiable information and protected health information (PII/PHI), necessitating compliance with the GDPR. An MFT solution must therefore be able to secure data in transit and at rest, track file movement, and ensure data privacy.

Managed File Transfer and GDPR Compliance

MFT solutions are an integral part of a robust GDPR compliance strategy. As the GDPR emphasizes numerous data rights and stringent data protection guidelines, organizations need to ensure that data transfers are secure, reliable, and compliant. MFT solutions, designed to move vast amounts of sensitive data securely, efficiently, and reliably, provide the necessary framework to meet these criteria. The versatility of MFT solutions in handling different types of data transfers, their inherent encryption capabilities, and their support for detailed audit logs underpin their crucial role in ensuring GDPR compliance.

The Role of MFT in Data Security

Data privacy is a cardinal principle of the GDPR, which stipulates that organizations must implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access. MFT solutions play a pivotal role in securing personal data during the transfer process. They do this by providing end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, antivirus scanning, and data loss prevention, among other security features. Furthermore, MFT solutions offer automation of file transfers, reducing the likelihood of human error, which often leads to data breaches.

Why MFT Is Important in Maintaining Data Privacy

The GDPR puts forth comprehensive privacy requirements, necessitating companies to maintain the highest levels of data privacy. In essence, MFT solutions help organizations fulfill these requirements by ensuring that data transfers are tightly controlled and only accessible to authorized personnel. Many MFT tools incorporate advanced features like data masking and anonymization, which further enhance the privacy of data. Additionally, the ability of MFT solutions to manage complex business rules around data handling and transmission allows companies to implement more granular control over data, thereby enhancing privacy.

How Does MFT Facilitate GDPR Compliance?

Secure MFT solutions can facilitate GDPR compliance in myriad ways. First, they support the principle of data minimization by allowing organizations to transfer only the necessary data. Second, MFT tools help in meeting the GDPR’s accountability requirements by maintaining detailed audit logs of all data transfers, empowering organizations to demonstrate compliance during audits. Further, MFT solutions provide organizations with the ability to control and revoke access to data, thereby supporting the “right to erasure” that the GDPR stipulates. Finally, by providing robust security measures like encryption and secure protocols, MFT tools contribute to the GDPR’s requirement for “integrity and confidentiality” of personal data.

MFT Features That Support GDPR Compliance

Secure MFT solutions boast a host of features that explicitly align with the stringent requirements of GDPR compliance. These robust mechanisms are designed to ensure a high level of security and privacy, as demanded by the GDPR.

Encryption and Decryption Capabilities	Advanced encryption and decryption capabilities are critical components to protecting sensitive data during transfer, significantly mitigating the risk of costly data breaches. Furthermore, it employs both symmetric and asymmetric encryption methods, guaranteeing utmost privacy even when information is being shared between multiple parties. These encryption methods make it nearly impossible for unauthorized entities to access and decipher the transferred data.
Record-keeping and Audit Logs	Comprehensive record-keeping and audit logging functionalities provide detailed insights into all file transfer activities, including who accessed the files, when they were accessed, and what modifications were made. These records can serve as strong proof of compliance during external audits or internal investigations.
Role-based Access Control	MFT’s role-based access control feature allows for the assignment of access rights based on roles, ensuring that only authorized individuals can view or modify sensitive data. With this feature, prevention of unauthorized access to personal data is ensured, which is a vital requisite for GDPR compliance.
File Integrity Checking and Validation	File integrity checking and validation ensures that files have not been tampered with or corrupted during transmission. By employing hashing algorithms and checksums, MFT can verify file integrity after the transfer. This not only provides assurance of the correctness and reliability of the transferred data but also boosts trust among stakeholders and demonstrates compliance with the GDPR’s data integrity requirements.
Non-repudiation Support	Non-repudiation support prevents denial of transmission or receipt of files. The data is tagged with a digital signature, ensuring that the sender cannot refute the fact that they sent a file, nor can the recipient deny receiving it. This feature provides irrefutable proof of data transfer and aligns with the GDPR’s accountability principle, further strengthening the case for GDPR compliance. Non-repudiation support, combined with the other features, ensures the highest possible level of trustworthiness and reliability in data transfers, which are key aspects of GDPR compliance.

MFT Audit Logs and GDPR Compliance

Audit logs are critical in ensuring GDPR compliance. An audit log is a security-relevant chronological record, set of records, or destination and source of records that provide documentary evidence of the sequence of activities that have affected at any time a specific operation, procedure, or event. This becomes critical for data privacy, providing a clear, timestamped pathway of who accessed data, what changes were made, and when. GDPR regulations mandate the capability to demonstrate compliance, making audit logs indispensable for organizations dealing with sensitive user data.

Recording File Transfer Details

As part of GDPR compliance, MFT systems must record in-depth details about every file transfer. This includes the identity of the sender and receiver, timestamp, transmission path, payload details, and more. These recorded details must be tamper-proof and securely stored for future reference. Such comprehensive logging contributes toward not only ensuring transparency but also playing a critical role in forensic investigations. MFT, by nature, provides extensive protocols and mechanisms to accomplish this.

Monitoring and Reporting Capabilities

MFT offers robust monitoring and reporting capabilities that are critical for GDPR compliance. With real-time monitoring, organizations can detect any irregularities or suspicious activities in data transfers, and take immediate action. The comprehensive reports generated by MFT systems can act as definitive proof of compliance to GDPR. They make it easier for organizations to identify trends, monitor user behavior, and analyze data flow patterns, thereby strengthening the data protection framework and promoting adherence to GDPR regulations.

MFT and Protection Against Data Breaches

Under the GDPR, a data breach is essentially an infringement of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure of, or access to personal data transmitted, stored, or otherwise processed. When the GDPR came into effect in 2018, it introduced stringent data breach notification requirements. Organizations that fail to report data breaches within 72 hours to their relevant supervisory authority could face serious penalties.

How MFT Protects Against Data Breaches

MFT provides a range of features designed to protect against data breaches. It employs end-to-end encryption, thus ensuring data integrity and confidentiality during transmission. It also employs protocols such as SFTP and FTPS for secure file transfer. Additional security features like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, multi-factor authentication, and access controls can further fortify the data protection capabilities of an MFT system. By enforcing stringent security measures at every level, MFT can significantly mitigate the risk of data breaches, thereby helping organizations meet the stringent regulations set by GDPR.

The Role of MFT in Breach Notification Compliance

In the event of a data breach, GDPR requires organizations not only to report the breach but also to provide detailed documentation regarding the nature of the breach, its impacts, and the steps taken to mitigate its effects. MFT systems can play a vital role here by providing comprehensive logs and audit logs that can aid in breach investigations. Furthermore, some MFT systems come with built-in breach detection mechanisms. They can alert the organization to potential breaches, enabling quick response and mitigation, thus helping comply with the GDPR’s 72-hour notification rule.

MFT and Data Subject Rights Under GDPR

Under the GDPR, data subjects have the right to access their personal data held by an organization. This includes the right to obtain confirmation that their data is being processed, to access the personal data, and to obtain information about how the data is being processed. MFT systems can ensure this right by maintaining accurate, up-to-date, and readily accessible records of personal data. MFT can also facilitate secure, controlled access to this data whenever required by the data subject.

The Right to Data Portability

The GDPR also grants data subjects the right to data portability. This means they have the right to receive their personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and they have the right to transmit this data to another data controller. MFT systems, given their core function of secure data transfer, are perfectly suited to handle this requirement. MFT can automate, streamline, and secure the process of data portability, thereby facilitating compliance with this aspect of the GDPR.

The Role of MFT in Upholding Data Subject Rights

MFT plays a crucial role in upholding data subject rights by providing a secure and controlled environment for data processing. Through comprehensive logging, real-time monitoring, and robust encryption, MFT ensures that personal data is processed in a way that respects the rights and freedoms of data subjects, as mandated by the GDPR. Furthermore, MFT solutions can provide the necessary infrastructure to implement the data subjects’ rights to erasure, correction, restriction of processing, or an objection to processing, further fueling GDPR compliance.

Choosing the Right MFT Solution for GDPR Compliance

A GDPR-compliant MFT solution should not just cater to secure file transfer needs but also integrate a bevy of features aimed at facilitating GDPR compliance. This includes robust audit logging capabilities, real-time monitoring and alerts, data encryption, multi-factor authentication, granular access controls, and breach detection mechanisms. The solution should also support automated, secure processing of data subject requests, uphold data subjects’ rights, and provide comprehensive reporting capabilities. Importantly, it should be flexible and scalable enough to adapt to evolving data privacy demands and regulatory changes.

The Merits of a Certified MFT Solution

Opting for a certified MFT solution brings added assurance of its quality, reliability, and compliance levels. Certifications such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 attest to the stringent security controls and processes that the MFT solution has in place. A certified MFT solution can greatly mitigate the risks of data breaches and noncompliance penalties, thereby ensuring a higher level of protection for personal data. Moreover, certified vendors typically offer ongoing support and updates to keep up with the evolving landscape of data privacy regulations, making them a reliable partner in your GDPR compliance journey.

Kiteworks MFT Helps Organizations Achieve and Maintain GDPR Compliance

Kiteworks MFT, an integral part of the Kiteworks Private Content Network, helps organizations achieve and maintain compliance with the GDPR.

As part of the Kiteworks Private Content Network, Kiteworks MFT provides a secure and controlled environment for transferring sensitive data outside an organization. It employs end-to-end encryption protocols to protect data during transit and at rest, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of personal data as required by the GDPR. This level of data protection is crucial in preventing unauthorized access and data breaches.

In addition to robust data protection, Kiteworks MFT also supports the GDPR’s principle of data minimization. This principle requires organizations to limit personal data collection and storage to what is strictly necessary for the intended purpose. Kiteworks MFT allows organizations to transfer only the necessary data, thereby reducing the risk of excessive data collection and potential noncompliance.

The Kiteworks platform also includes:

A cluster of virtual appliances, developed using secure coding practices. They are fully hardened, pen tested and subjected to bounty hunters, saving you the time, effort, and cost of hardening them yourself.
A CISO Dashboard provides comprehensive visibility of data access, user access, data trends and movement, and controls over data transfers.
DLP integration to scan all in-transit data to determine whether or not it contains sensitive or personal data.
Access controls over flows and connections to protect sensitive data from illicit access.
AES-256 encryption for data at rest and TLS 1.2 encryption for data in transit.
Detailed one-click GDPR and HIPAA reports highlighting risks in your security and governance policies. Use them in audits to quickly demonstrate compliance with your documented controls, such as DLP scanner integration, data access policies, domain whitelisting and file expiration controls.
Unified in a single, standardized cleansed syslog so your SOC team can save time and more quickly analyze alerts.
Provisions for secure third-party access to personal data, including detailed logs for personal data access.
Automated data removal policies to meet GDPR processing requirements.
Additional layers of protection for encryption keys using integration with a hardware security module (HSM) or Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (AWS KMS).

Ready to learn more about MFT for GDPR compliance and how it can help your business? Check out Kiteworks’ secure managed file transfer solution or schedule a demo today.

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