Information Risk Management Challenges
High-tech manufacturing, aerospace & defense, and industrial enterprises rely heavily on CAD/CAM, PLM, and supply chain systems across global ecosystems. As intellectual property, export-restricted information (ERI), and confidential data move beyond organizational boundaries, risks of data loss, conflicts of interest, and regulatory violations increase. Traditional security controls lack the ability to enforce consistent policies across users, locations, devices, and workflows- especially in mobile, multi-party environments- leaving organizations exposed to financial penalties, legal action, and reputational damage.
To tackle these complex security challenges, design and manufacturing firms must adopt information risk management solutions that aim to prevent the loss of intellectual property, reduce conflicts of interest, and regulate and audit information flow to ensure compliance with export regulations.
Identity-Driven Policy to Enforce Data Confidentiality and Protection Controls
The solution applies identity-driven policies that account for user roles, environment, and business context to enforce appropriate data protection controls. It integrates with existing infrastructure to:
- Define authorized users
- Identify controlled technical data and intellectual property
- Control data access, use, and disclosure according to defined business policies
- Align controls with defined business policies, regulatory rules and contractual obligations such as export control, approved licenses, and NDAs
- Provide a full audit trail of data flow history and users activity to satisfy internal and regulatory compliance requirements
Key Applications
The solution includes three key applications to address information compliance and protection problems, and workflow scenarios, that are specific to design and manufacturing firms.
Intellectual Property Protection
The solution safeguards IP across global supply chains and product lifecycles by preventing improper disclosure and conflicts of interest between teams. Automated handling procedures improve compliance while enabling secure collaboration with partners. Comprehensive auditing supports regulatory requirements and simplifies investigations.
Data Loss Prevention
Endpoint and communication-based data loss is mitigated by preventing unauthorized copying, uploading, emailing, or sharing of sensitive information. The solution protects ERI, IP, and confidential client data across devices, applications, and channels, reducing the risk of accidental or intentional leakage.
Export Control for Technical Data
Technical data access and disclosure are continuously tracked and audited to ensure compliance with export regulations and licenses. Unauthorized access is denied, users are educated on safe handling requirements, and remediation processes are automated to prevent violations across borders and extended enterprises.
Solution Deployment
NextLabs delivers the solution using proven information risk management methodologies and industry best practices. Deployment includes monitoring and analyzing data handling activities, authoring and deploying fine-grained policies, applying controls that educate users and automate remediation, and continuously measuring effectiveness through reporting and analysis.
Discover how design and manufacturing organizations can protect IP, enforce export controls, and enable secure collaboration – explore the full solution paper to learn more.
