Rethinking the security of PDFs

Paul Jackson at Foxit examines an overlooked cyber-security risk that’s hiding in plain sight 

  

In today’s enterprise environments, PDFs underpin countless workflows – from financial documents and contracts to HR policies and audit trails. Despite their ubiquity, they’re often dismissed as low risk. That’s a dangerous misconception. 

  

Many organisations still view PDFs as static, read-only files. Yet, this outdated assumption fails to reflect how PDFs are used in 2025 - they are dynamically edited, shared across ecosystems, embedded in automated systems, and filled with sensitive data. Thus, underestimating their security implications is a critical blind spot. 

  

The misguided trust in PDF safety 

Enterprise document workflows frequently lag behind broader digital transformation initiatives. While AI, automation, and cloud tools advance rapidly, PDF handling often relies on legacy systems with limited visibility, traceability, and access controls. 

  

This gap introduces real-world vulnerabilities. Documents that contain sensitive data are stored, shared, and signed without adequate protection. Metadata remains exposed. Unencrypted files are emailed as standard. All of this is because PDFs don’t "look" dangerous, and security teams may overlook them entirely. 

  

Compounding this is the pressure from tightening regulatory regimes. Frameworks like GDPR, ISO 27001, and eIDAS 2.0 demand rigorous governance of digital content, and a lack of secure document management is a compliance liability. 

  

PDFs and the evolving threats 

More than 560,000 new malware variants are identified daily, and threat actors are increasingly using PDFs to deliver malicious payloads. With the rise of AI-driven attack tools, adversaries can now breach, move laterally, and exfiltrate data in minutes. 

  

In this fast-moving environment, vulnerabilities that once felt insignificant - like an unsecured PDF - can become major attack vectors. Enterprises can no longer afford to treat document security as an afterthought. 

  

Security by design: from creation to collaboration 

The solution isn’t to bolt security on after the fact. It must be embedded across the document lifecycle. Protection needs to start at file creation, encompassing encryption, granular permission controls, secure sharing, version tracking, and verifiable digital signatures. 

  

Just as importantly, security and compliance must be frictionless. Users shouldn’t have to remember to protect a document. It should be the default. AI and automation have a critical role to play here, from automatic redaction and anomaly detection to streamlined compliance workflows and secure search. 

  

A strategic shift for cyber-security leaders  

This changing landscape opens the door for security and channel partners to deliver deeper value. The role is evolving from product reseller to strategic advisor, helping clients understand how insecure document workflows undermine both cyber-security and compliance readiness. 

  

Forward-thinking providers will guide organisations in choosing secure-by-design tools and help tailor document strategies to sector-specific regulatory requirements. By doing so, they’ll reduce client risk exposure while unlocking new efficiency gains. 

  

Elevating the role of documents in risk management 

It’s time to elevate PDFs in the cyber-security conversation. These documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, containing the data that drives decisions, confirms agreements, and supports compliance. 

  

As cyber-threats intensify and regulatory scrutiny increases, the status quo is no longer viable. If your business is modernising its IT infrastructure or reassessing its risk posture, secure document workflows should be a central part of that strategy. 

  

Because in today’s enterprise, one compromised PDF can become a key to your company’s backdoor.  

 

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Paul Jackson is Director of EMEA Channel at Foxit 

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and saifulasmee chede