MFT Security Gap: 59% Report Incidents

Kiteworks 2025 Data Security and Compliance Risk: Managed File Transfer (MFT) Survey Report uncovers critical security gaps in enterprise file transfer systems, with 59% of organizations reporting security incidents in the past year. Despite widespread adoption of basic security measures, organizations struggle with fundamental vulnerabilities in their MFT deployments. The comprehensive survey examines MFT security practices across multiple industries, revealing that while 76% encrypt data in transit, only 42% protect files at rest with AES-256 encryption. This 34-percentage-point gap represents millions of stored files sitting unprotected in MFT systems, creating opportunities for data breaches and compliance failures.

Mid-Market Companies Face Highest MFT Breach Risk at 32%

Organizations with 5,000 to 10,000 employees experience the highest breach rate at 32%, three times higher than large enterprises despite significant security investments. The survey data challenges assumptions about resources equating to better MFT security, showing that mid-market companies face unique vulnerabilities as they scale their file transfer operations. Financial services organizations demonstrate the most balanced approach to MFT security, achieving only a 25% incident rate through comprehensive governance practices. Government agencies and healthcare organizations face particular challenges, with government MFT systems encrypting just 8% of stored data and healthcare protecting only 11% at rest, despite strong compliance frameworks and transit encryption capabilities.

Three Critical MFT Security Gaps Drive Vulnerability

The research identifies three fundamental gaps that separate secure organizations from those experiencing incidents. First, 63% of MFT systems lack security information and event management (SIEM) or security operations center (SOC) integration, leaving file transfers unmonitored while security teams track other network activity. Second, 62% operate fragmented systems across email security, file sharing, and web forms, creating inconsistent policies and multiple vulnerability points. Third, 73% lack advanced MFT security controls such as content disarm and reconstruction (CDR), relying instead on basic antivirus and data loss prevention (DLP) tools. Organizations addressing these three gaps through unified platforms, integrated monitoring, and comprehensive encryption demonstrate significantly lower incident rates.

Download the Full MFT Survey Report

The Kiteworks report provides detailed analysis of file transfer security practices, industry-specific findings, and actionable recommendations for improving MFT security posture. Organizations can benchmark their MFT deployments against peer data, identify critical vulnerabilities in their file transfer infrastructure, and develop targeted improvement strategies. The report examines MFT security across organization sizes, industries, and geographic regions, offering insights into successful MFT governance practices that reduce incident rates. Security leaders, compliance officers, and IT executives managing file transfer systems will find specific guidance for closing MFT security gaps, implementing advanced controls, and building resilient file transfer operations that protect sensitive data while maintaining operational efficiency.