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Indeed Defends Millions of Daily File Uploads…
Internet & Software | Customer Stories
Indeed Defends Millions of Daily File Uploads Against Modern Day Threats with OPSWAT
With OPSWAT’s Metascan™ Multiscanning, Indeed, a leader in job matching and hiring, scans millions of daily uploads and ensures both employers and job seekers are protected from file-based attacks.
By Oana Predoiu
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About the Company: More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. Indeed is the #1 job site[ in the world (Comscore, Total Visits, March 2025). With 635 million job seeker profiles, people in more than 60 countries across 28 languages come to Indeed to search for jobs, post resumes, and research companies. Over 3.3 million employers use Indeed to find and hire new employees. Indeed is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a global leader in HR technology and business solutions that is simplifying hiring and transforming the world of work.
What's the Story? Millions of daily uploads also mean millions of opportunities for hackers to exploit the platform through infected files. Indeed recognized the need to implement strict file upload security measures to protect all users. Metascan Multiscanning technology, delivered through MetaDefender Core, helped the company protect itself against file-borne attacks.
If there is one experience that can be labelled as universally shared, it’s being an active participant in the job market, either as a recruiter or as a job seeker. But what happens when the person sending (or opening) the CV isn’t as well intentioned as you initially believed? What if you’re not opening a file from someone who has something to offer, but from someone who intends to steal? The recruitment industry is an enticing target for cybercriminals, who hide behind seemingly innocent résumés or job descriptions. Posing as an employer or an active candidate provides the perfect cover for malicious actors to infiltrate systems through weaponized file uploads, hunting for a goldmine of personally identifiable information ready to be exploited. We’ve seen how easily hackers can breach major platforms. In the summer of 2025 alone, two major job platforms were successfully hacked, leading to the exposure of millions of job seekers’ data. Leaks on this scale expose victims to identity theft, fraud, and further targeted attacks, as the information found in résumés can be used to create fake identities and commit financial crimes. Fortunately, today’s story is not a cautionary tale, but one of foresight.
Our customer, Indeed, ranked as the world’s #1 job site with 635 million Job Seeker Profiles, recognized the threat landscape in which it operates, while also witnessing malware campaigns aimed at its platform. Indeed needed a solution capable of protecting millions of daily uploads and supporting multiple file types. This need led to the adoption of OPSWAT’s MetaDefender Core, specifically its Metascan™ Multiscanning technology, marking the beginning of a collaborative journey toward stronger cybersecurity and improved operational efficiency. We’ve sat down with Garrett Lee, Software Engineering Manager at Indeed, to understand how this collaboration unfolded.
The Search for a Powerful, Scalable, and Fast Solution, Without Data Governance Compromises
Like many job matching platforms, Indeed wanted to strengthen its platform against the possibility of malicious campaigns aimed at tricking employers into downloading malware onto their computers which could lead to data breaches, account takeovers, or stolen credentials. This marked the beginning of the search for a new, more powerful cybersecurity solution to enhance existing technology. This time, the evaluation went beyond multiscanning alone, as any new solution had to meet a broader set of requirements.
In the face of increasingly sophisticated methodology from bad actors, we evaluated antivirus scanning solutions across multiple aspects, including detection rates, prevention measures like detecting file spoofing and macros, and the ability to scan larger files.
Garrett Lee
Software Engineering Manager
Data Ownership
Most available options would require Indeed to rely on external systems for file scanning and storage.
However, Indeed wanted full control and ownership of its data, especially given the sensitive nature of the information stored on the platform.
Compatibility
Another deciding factor was system compatibility. No matter how accurate detection engines may be, their value is limited without the ability to scan a wide variety of file types.
While PDFs make up the majority of uploaded files, users can also upload .docx and even .zip files, meaning the new cybersecurity solution needed to support multiple formats.
Speed and Scalability
With millions of files uploaded every day, any cybersecurity solution needed to process large volumes (including files larger than 2 GB) quickly, without disrupting the user experience.
All of these requirements fell under the broader umbrella of efficiency: files needed to be scanned and threats stopped at the point of entry, turning improved malware detection rates into another non-negotiable requirement.
How OPSWAT Stood Out
Indeed explored a range of threat detection solutions, focusing on those that:
Delivered higher detection rates
Ensured full data ownership for Indeed
Were compatible with the majority of uploaded file types
Could process large data volumes at high speed
Did not negatively impact the user experience during scanning
After defining the selection criteria, Indeed proceeded to market analysis, evaluating solutions capable of meeting these requirements and found OPSWAT to be a viable solution.
Its capabilities, combined with ease of deployment, made it an ideal fit for Indeed’s needs.
Initial Integration as a Collaborative Effort
MetaDefender Core is an advanced threat prevention platform that integrates seamlessly with Indeed’s existing infrastructure, protecting against malicious file upload attacks.
They now rely on Metascan Multiscanning and its 30+ leading anti-malware engines to achieve over 99.2% detection, leveraging signatures, heuristics, and machine-learning techniques.
By integrating MetaDefender Core into its infrastructure, Indeed achieved maximum coverage while minimizing development effort and long-term maintenance costs. For Indeed, MetaDefender Core functions almost like a cybersecurity microservice, active both at file upload points and during file exchanges between employers and job seekers.
During the initial setup phase, the OPSWAT and Indeed teams worked closely together to implement readiness checks and database monitoring. Through this close collaboration, Indeed achieved an optimal configuration, enabling efficient infrastructure operation while minimizing resource usage and cloud costs.
OPSWAT has been very responsive and helpful in addressing and resolving our support requests. We raise support tickets, and we receive timely responses
Garrett Lee
Software Engineering Manager
10x Increase in Malware Detection. Same Workflow Performance
Following implementation, Indeed observed two major improvements:
Higher malware detection rates
Faster response times
On average, Indeed now detects thousands of malicious files every day. Moreover, Metascan Multiscanning’s expanded capabilities enabled the company to scan and flag files that were previously out of reach, including:
File type spoofing
Password-protected documents
Multi-layered nested archives
As Garrett Lee explains, “All of this has helped us detect significantly more malicious files, which we can then block to ensure they never reach employers or job seekers. We’ve experienced roughly a 10x increase in files detected as suspicious or unsafe compared to our previous solution.” Since Indeed processes millions of files daily, it was critical to introduce the multiscanning step into the upload workflow without disrupting user experience, system performance, or backend operations.
By implementing MetaDefender Core using a microservices architecture, Indeed simplified infrastructure scaling and established improved latency and availability SLAs. With 24/7 first responders on call, Indeed was able to address issues proactively, ensuring reliable performance at all times.
OPSWAT Provides the Foundation of a Proactive Defense Strategy
As technology continues to rapidly evolve with AI, cyber threats have become increasingly sophisticated and more persistent. Indeed’s leadership understands the environment in which it operates and is already taking proactive steps to mitigate the evolving attack landscape.
OPSWAT’s Metascan Multiscanning technology serves as a foundational layer in Indeed’s security strategy, establishing a strong baseline to protect both job seekers and employers from malicious files. However, multiscanning is only the beginning. As Garrett Lee notes, Indeed is continuously looking for ways to “address the nuances of the specific attacks” it encounters, while improving its defences with capabilities that go beyond traditional malicious file detection.
Externalizing Cybersecurity Becomes a Strategic Move
For Indeed, transferring file scanning responsibilities to a trusted partner - rather than building and maintaining in-house teams - represented a significant cost-saving opportunity. By externalizing cybersecurity operations to dedicated experts, Indeed freed its internal teams to focus on improving and expanding the platform itself.
Partnering with an external organization to handle our core cybersecurity challenges allows us to stay focused on our mission instead of getting sidetracked.
Garrett Lee
Software Engineering Manager
With OPSWAT as a trusted partner, Indeed’s teams can stay focused on their mission to help people get jobs. Instead of constantly looking for the next threat, Indeed relies on support from OPSWAT to stay ahead of emerging risks and keep the platform secure. And this is how it should be. Through transparent collaborations, where each party brings deep expertise, the ecosystem becomes stronger for everyone. If your organization is searching for a partnership like this, look no further. Get in touch, and let’s explore what we can achieve together.
