OPSWAT-Sponsored Report: AI is Exposing a File Security Gap Most Organizations Don’t Know They Have

The financial and operational costs of this security gap are significant. In the past two years, two out of five organizations (41.7%) suffered file-related breaches or security incidents, costing an average of $2.2 million. The true breach rate is likely much higher, as 83% of those reporting no incidents admitted they lack full visibility into their file lifecycles. In other words, they couldn't rule out a breach. Less than one in five of organizations (16.9%) claimed complete visibility into files entering, moving within, and leaving their networks.

Many still endorse detection-based approaches, but some in the industry are signaling a need for change. Of all security posture statements tested, organizations most highly rated (27.2% strong agreement) that a paradigm shift away from a "detection-first" posture is urgently required.

Content disarm and reconstruction (CDR), which neutralizes threats by removing potentially malicious components from files, is already used by 51.6% of organizations, and another 8.3% plan to deploy it within 12 months, one of the highest planned adoption rates among the file security methods examined. This current increase speaks to the growing need for a prevention first methodology to better manage today's threat landscape.