Zero Trust is no longer a nice-to-have - it’s a must-have. According to Cisco, over 86% of enterprise organizations have started rolling out a Zero Trust framework to protect their business-critical information and ensure regulatory compliance, but only 2% have successfully implemented a mature ZT architecture.
Zero Trust is no longer a nice-to-have - it’s a must-have. According to Cisco, over 86% of enterprise organizations have started rolling out a Zero Trust framework to protect their business-critical information and ensure regulatory compliance, but only 2% have successfully implemented a mature ZT architecture.
Organizations that keep their most business-critical data on computer-aided design (CAD) files should implement Zero Trust CAD protection as a priority.
Here’s three steps to implementing Zero Trust for CAD files.
What data matters most to your organization? Be it your latest construction blueprints and technical drawings or new manufacturing designs and engineering product templates, it’s likely that this data is contained in CAD files.
CAD files are often shared along the supply chain, but as CAD files do not have in-built security, this data becomes increasingly vulnerable as soon as it’s shared externally. This can be especially dangerous if your CAD files contain your ‘secret sauce’ intellectual property (as breaches can threaten your future operations) or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) (as breaches could threaten your chances of winning future DoD contracts, not to mention national security if for military purposes).
But - by identifying which of your CAD files contain your most sensitive information (be it intellectual property and/or CUI) and the potential impact of losing this information (either to an attack or accidental leak), you will find out which CAD files most urgently need Zero Trust protection.
Zero Trust works on four main principles:
• Identity - Zero Trust authenticates identity for every access request.
• Devices - Zero Trust encrypts data on all devices.
• Rights - Zero Trust applies least-privilege user rights as standard.
• Monitoring - Zero Trust tracks data access beyond your IT perimeter.
To ensure these principles apply for CAD security, you need to pinpoint who needs access to your business-critical CAD files and the level of user rights they require (as it’s ‘zero trust,’ all employees or external partners should be given the least-privilege access rights as standard - no matter their position). After establishing the access hierarchy, you will need to find a Zero Trust solution that sets identity authentication (i.e. through multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometrics or passwords) beyond your IT perimeter.
Effective Zero Trust implementation requires a mindset shift, so it’s crucial that internal employees and external partners (especially those handling CUI data) are aware of the new rules and processes.
For large enterprise organizations with thousands of employees and devices, this requires constant education and monitoring as a) Zero Trust implementation is a multi-year journey and b) user’s access rights will change as your company grows with new hires, employees move roles internally (even an employee moving projects should lead to access rights changes) or you work with new supply chain partners.
However, there is a simpler way.
Secude’s HaloCAD is the only Zero Trust solution that embeds Microsoft’s Purview Information Protection (MPIP) protection and data governance into CAD files from the point of origin. Integrated at the application layer, your CAD files have lifelong Zero Trust protection wherever they travel and are protected even if moved outside of your business, accidentally leaked or stolen.
Up and running in just a few days, HaloCAD applies MPIP authorization tags to CAD files for their lifetime, ensuring sensitive data is only accessible by authorized users. As such, individual CAD files don’t require active management and you can ensure seamless collaboration with supply chain partners no matter their level of internal security.
For more information on how to implement Zero Trust for CAD files, download our latest eBook:
How to implement Zero Trust security for CAD files
Or get in touch for a demo.