How to share sensitive data online

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Sharing sensitive files securely online has become more essential than ever as our lives shift more and more into the digital space. And while this shift offers us many advantages, it also exposes us to the threat of potential data theft.

Whether it's personal, medical or financial information, any data that cybercriminals have access to can be used for fraud or even blackmail, warn experts from the ESET digital security team.

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Failing to securely share files with your most sensitive information can have significant consequences – and no one wants to suffer the stress, financial loss and time-consuming effort required to recover from a serious data breach.

With so many options available, it can be hard to know where to start.

Read below the information provided by ESET experts to effectively protect your sensitive information.

Why is secure file sharing important?

According to a recent survey, 61% of Americans have learned that their personal data has been compromised on at least one of their accounts. And more than two-fifths (44%) say this has happened many times.

Cybercriminals often target the organizations that manage our data. According to Verizon, over 94% of data breaches in 2023 were financially motivated and over 70% were carried out by organized crime groups. However, the same motivations drive cybercriminals to target individuals through phishing attacks.

What to watch out for

There are many options for sending your files to someone. Of course, some cannot be applied to exchange files digitally, such as USB sticks or other removable storage media. The following also have their drawbacks:

Email attachments: People often find this to be the best way to send sensitive files. But they forget that many carriers don't necessarily encrypt a message once it reaches the recipient. Also, what if the recipient's email account or yours gets hacked? There is also a size limit on many platforms, which may not be enough for large image or video files. A proven service that offers end-to-end encrypted email is generally a better choice in many scenarios, but there are other options.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was created specifically for file sharing. But it lacks built-in encryption (unless you use its secure form, known as FTPS, or a secure alternative to FTP, known as SFTP), and may require settings that only businesses and tech-savvy people can understand.
P2P: P2P (Peer-to-peer), which cuts out the middleman, can work for sharing some files, but in the absence of other precautions is generally not the best choice.

7 tips for securely sharing large files

End-to-end encrypted file storage in the cloud suits most people, especially when the above solutions fail. If you take the right precautions, it can provide you with a secure storage solution where your files are kept under lock and key. You can then invite selected users to view them by giving a time-limited download link. This is important as it means you can update the files as you use them and everyone will be able to see the same copy.

However, not all solutions are the same, and there may be other steps you should take to mitigate more serious security, privacy, and user experience concerns.

Consider the following:

Select end-to-end encryption (E2EE): As your files are encrypted at source and decrypted at the intended destination (and remain encrypted at storage), E2EE is ideal for device-to-device data exchange. This then covers encryption in storage and in transit and means that even if the provider becomes the target of an attack, your data will not be exposed. In addition to E2EE cloud file sharing providers, there are also E2EE email services available, although there are file size limitations.
Choose a provider that emphasizes security and privacy. There are many solutions on the market. It's important to do some research beforehand to make sure the provider you choose is the right one. Read our privacy policies and understand how your data is secured.
Make sure files are protected with a strong and unique password, to keep them safe from prying eyes. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to further protect your account from phishing and other attacks. Set up a sharing link so that those with the link can access your files.
Setting an expiration time on links (links) that you send to a recipient, you can minimize the risk of unauthorized access to your files. Some providers may also give you the ability to remotely delete files or revoke access after they've been uploaded, for added protection.
If it is possible, don't log into accounts with sensitive data when you are connected to an unsecured public Wi-Fi network. If you need to do this, make sure you use a reliable VPN.
Check the size limits of file sharing services at cloud to make sure you can send data quickly and easily.
Of course, you should treat any links with caution on file sharing sites – even if they look legitimate. Security software will scan such links or downloads for malware and keep your machine safe from hacking or communications interception attacks.

We all have different tolerances for security and privacy risks. But using the above tips as an easy guide, you'll be able to choose the service that suits your file sharing requirements.