Defense: DLP alone can’t protect your IP. Here’s what can.

Submarine motors. Aircraft engines. Spatial systems. Command platforms. 

No matter the product, CAD software underpins the modern Defense production chain and contains Defense contractors’ most confidential intellectual property (IP). But most of the Defense industry relies on Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools to protect their CAD data, which leaves security gaps for cyberattackers to exploit. 

Here’s how Secude works with your existing DLP tools to close your security gaps and protect your IP. 

3 CAD file DLP gaps Defense needs to close

Your CAD files are your priceless crown jewels, containing your trade secrets (and national security interests). DLP security acts like a bank vault, locking down these jewels and protecting them from internal and external threats. But DLP security does not protect these jewels when they’re first created or when they’re travelling to and from the bank vault. 

With DLP, your priceless CAD files are:

• Not secure when generated. From threat detection software to firewalls, DLP solutions can provide strong CAD file protection — but only after the files are classified. As most DLP security kicks in at the storage level, there’s a significant risk window between data generation and storage.
  
• Not secure when in transit. DLP does not protect files shared outside of your IT perimeter. As DLP only protects CAD files in secure environments, you’re putting your precious IP at risk when sharing CAD data with supply chain partners.
  
• Not secure by default. DLP security is not embedded in your CAD files. As DLP acts like an external shield, rather than integrated file-level security, you cannot track where CAD files travel or prevent unauthorized access if files are accidentally leaked. 

3 ways Secude closes the CAD file DLP gaps 

Working alongside your existing DLP solutions, Secude’s file-level security closes these CAD file security gaps. 

With Secude & DLP, your CAD files are: 

• Protected from creation. Secude encrypts your CAD files between data generation and storage. Built into the application layer (instead of the storage level like DLP), Secude automatically applies Microsoft Purview protection and data governance as soon as CAD files are generated.
  
• Protected when shared externally. Secude’s MPIP sensitivity labels and access controls secures your CAD files when they travel outside of your IT perimeter, be it with contractors directly or within cloud-based systems.
  
• Protected for their entire lifetime. Embedded into the CAD file, Secude’s protection lasts for your CAD files’ entire lifetime, so you can still track and control access (i.e. edit or revoke permissions) years after files are shared. 

DLP + Secude = ultimate CAD file protection 

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3 reasons why Defense needs DLP & Secude

1. Protect your IP no matter where it travels

IP leakage is catastrophic for your company, ruining your reputation, exposing your secrets, and harming your chances of winning DoD contracts. But losing IP that is Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is also potentially detrimental for national security. 

With Secude working alongside your existing DLP tools, your CAD files are always protected from external and insider threats as unauthorized personnel cannot access your CAD files even if they get hold of them. As a result, you don’t have to worry about sharing sensitive files with third-party contractors or an engineer downloading CAD files onto a USB stick and moving to a competitor. 

2. Simplify ITAR, DFARS and CMMC compliance 

Defense industry compliance standards require CAD file security that secures confidential data and tracks who has access to it. For example, if your technical engineering drawings are considered CUI, your CAD file security needs to satisfy over 100 NIST controls - including proof of authorized access controls and audit logs - for CMMC compliance. 

With your DLP tools & Secude working together, you not only secure CAD files from creation, but also track where files travel for their lifetime, who accesses these files and where they are stored, helping you showcase top-of-the-range data protection to regulators and the DoD.

3. Collaborate efficiently and securely 

Cyber attackers exploit gaps in digital supply chains to access your sensitive IP. By targeting less-security focused third-parties (i.e. a custom parts supplier or software support team), attackers can infiltrate your cloud-based PLM or steal CAD files directly. 

With Secude working alongside DLP, your CAD files have lifetime sensitive labels that prevent unauthorized access even if there is a data breach. You can also monitor usage and revoke third-party access at any time (i.e. after an NDA expires or project finishes). 

Example: Microsoft Purview Information Protection (MPIP)

MPIP helps Defense companies using Microsoft 365 to protect and manage data across different environments, but its sensitivity labels only encrypt and track native MS Office files. Secude’s HaloCAD extends MPIP protection to all major CAD file formats (i.e. Autodesk, Siemens, PTC, and Dassault Systemes etc), embedding lifelong encryption and data governance into CAD files from creation. 

Check out how an aerospace contractor uses Microsoft and Secude to protect, track and control access to CAD files that are CUI and simplify CMMC compliance. 

[View Case Study]

DLP & Secude: lifetime IP protection software

Secude and DLP tools serve different parts of the security journey. DLP tools keep your CAD files secure after data is stored. Secude keeps your CAD files secure before data is stored and when data travels. 

Together, they protect your CAD files (and the IP contained within them) for its lifetime. 

For more information, check out how Secude’s solutions work for Defense.