Are your CAD files CUI? Speed up your CMMC compliance in 3 simple steps

According to the National Defense Industrial Association’s Vital Signs 2024 report, 40% of private defense contractors are concerned about the ‘burden and risk of compliance with government contracting requirements’. 13% consider compliance their biggest supply chain challenge. 

With all 100,000+ members of the Defense industrial Base (DIB) needing to adhere to new CMMC 2.0 regulations from Q1 2025, this is no surprise. Due to CMMC’s complex requirements, DoD suppliers are likely to spend at least 12-18 months getting ready for CMMC compliance. But if your computer-aided design (CAD) files are considered Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), you can speed up the compliance process in three simple steps. 

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1. Analyze your CAD exposure

As part of CMMC 2.0, you need to protect, track and control access to CUI wherever it lives or travels. All designs included in DoD contracts are CUI by default, so if you create technical drawings or engineering designs using CAD files, they are considered CUI - even if they seem to have little value out of context. 

However, not all CAD files need to be marked as CUI, so you first need to analyze your CAD exposure. 

1. Identify which CAD files are CUI and need to be controlled. 
2. Review the location, use and access of these CAD files both internally and when shared with external partners. 
3. Mitigate access controls risks with suitable CAD security.
   
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2. Assess CAD security options

To ensure your CAD files that are CUI comply with CMMC regulations, you need to make sure they’re protected when at rest and in transit. You also need the ability to track CAD files both inside and outside your IT perimeter, and control access to these files for their lifetime. 

In particular, look for CAD security that:

• Embeds Zero Trust protection from creation. The DoD is actively promoting Zero Trust as its preferred security framework as it limits access to authorized personnel. However, CAD vendors have yet to incorporate Zero Trust into their software, so look for a tool that integrates Zero Trust into CAD files from creation.
  
  
• Tracks CAD files internally and externally. Both large and small members of the DIB use CAD files along the supply chain, such as sharing design blueprints between managers, architects, consultants and engineers. To comply with CMMC regulations, you need CAD security that monitors where these CAD files travel, who has access to them and whether unauthorized personnel have attempted to gain access.
  
  
• Controls access for a CAD file’s lifetime. From read-only privileges and edit access to password-controlled viewing and admin-only use, look for CAD security with a variety of sensitivity options. As you work on specific projects, it’s likely that some teams and individuals will need to provide direct input, while others simply need oversight or aren’t allowed to view files at all (i.e. if they are foreign nationals). Your CAD security should have the flexibility to control file access even if shared externally, lost or stolen.
  
  

3. Implement Secude’s HaloCAD

HaloCAD’s unique features simplifies and speeds up your CMMC compliance. 

Integrated at the application layer, HaloCAD’s Zero Trust security applies authorization tags to CAD files by default (using Microsoft Purview Information Protection), ensuring your CUI is only accessible to authorized personnel and protected from accidental leaks or data breaches. 

HaloCAD also extends MPIP access tracking to your CAD applications, so you can monitor who has access to CAD files and where they travel, and also log unauthorized access attempts with Purview Audit. 

Meanwhile, HaloCAD’s sensitivity labels enable you to control access to CAD files both inside and outside of your company, while the simple labeling format ensures a seamless end-user experience. 

Trusted for CMMC

HaloCAD is the only CAD security solution that directly integrates with the CAD workstation and PLM software, so you can easily protect your CUI, track where your CUI lives and retain operational efficiency. That’s why a range of defense suppliers, including aerospace contractors and technology designers in the DIB, use HaloCAD to simplify and speed up their CMMC compliance certification. 

Find out how HaloCAD could support your CMMC journey in our latest eBook.  ‘How to easily protect and track CAD files that are CUI for CMMC compliance’. 

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