The need for safe and secure file transfer services has never been more pressing in the United States. The past few years have seen several high-profile cases of cyber hacking and data loss. Target, Home Depot, J.P. Morgan, Sony Pictures, and even United States Central Command (CENTCOM) have had either their social media profiles or private data hijacked. In 2011, for example, an astounding 535 cases of data breaches were reported in the U.S., resulting, among other things, in more than 30 million private consumer records being stolen. Two years later, 47% of businesses lost data in their cloud services (some of which, one can assume, are the same companies that had their data stolen in 2011). Despite recent commitments to improving cyber security, many American businesses are still woefully unprepared in establishing adequate data delivery services and data loss prevention solutions.

One thing to keep in mind when discussing file transfer services is that they all share at least one thing in common: their use of encryption programs. Encryption is the process of converting readable or “plaintext” data into illegible data or “ciphertext.” Encryption doesn’t conceal the data itself; it merely translates it into a language that only a user with a “key” (i.e. a method of converting ciphertext back to plaintext) can translate back. Encryption programs use algorithmic codes to convert plaintext into ciphertext. The “key” contains the code and uses it to configure the text to and from.

There are different kinds of encryption programs. The two most common ones are known as symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. The main difference between the two is that symmetric encryption uses the same key between the sender and the receiver. On the other hand, asymmetric encryption uses separate keys to access the data. They both have their advantages and disadvantages but they both accomplish the same goal: keeping private data safe from unwanted users.

Managed file transfer services offer different features and capabilities but nearly all of them use some kind of encryption code. Business owners and managers would be wise to look into those capabilities to avoid the same fate of Target and Sony.