Securely uploading and downloading business files is a key component of a myriad of online applications and services, including content management http://firedataroom.com/why-choose-a-data-room-over-dropbox systems and insurance websites, healthcare portals and messaging applications. Unrestricted file uploads are the most common attack channel used by malicious hackers to inject malware and take data.

A reliable file-upload system should confirm that the uploaded files are compliant with the list of permissible file types and scan them for viruses prior to storing them. This ensures that personal information of clients is not exposed, and is in compliance with standards like HIPAA (for health-related data) and GDPR (for EU citizens).

It is important to be able and able to confirm the types of files, as attackers are able “mask” malicious programs by renaming the files to acceptable extensions like.jpg or.gif. This means that your solution may not be able of identifying the actual file type, and would allow it to go without being noticed. It is essential to use a file-uploading program which also checks the extension of the file. This will prevent this.

A secure encryption of all data in the air and at rest is a way to protect yourself against various attacks. This turns files and messages into unreadable code that hackers cannot read even should they gain access to.

You can also create an uploading process that will reject any files that don’t meet your name conventions. This helps keep your team organized and also prevents you from exposing confidential information in the names of files.