AutoCad
Unstructured information in the form of designs and drawings (dwg, dwf, dxf, ...) represents some of the most valuable intellectual property (IP) for engineering and manufacturing companies. Given the collaborative nature of most of the design initiatives, these drawings are exchanged not only between different collaborating groups within the organization but also with external collaborators like sub-contractors, customers and vendors. With increasing collaboration in the value chain, the threat of these AutoCAD files reaching unintended recipients has constantly increased.
Traditional methods of securing these drawings have relied on erecting boundaries or "perimeters" around assets. Each information security technology comes with its own "perimeter" i.e.
So who protects these drawings ? And what happes when these drawings traverse these boundaries?
Seclore, an ADN partner of AutoDesk has solved this problem by extending its state-of-the-art Information Rights Management (IRM) system to protect AutoCAD files within and outside of the organization. Seclore FileSecure for AutoCAD enables enterprises and individuals to:
1. Define AutoCAD drawing Usage Policies
A usage policy defines:
WHO can use the AutoCAD drawing i.e. people / groups within or outside of the enterprise
WHAT can each person do with the AutoCAD drawing i.e. read / edit / print / distribute / copy
WHEN can each person access the AutoCAD drawing i.e. within certain dates, within a timespan
WHERE can the AutoCAD drawing be accessed from i.e. specific computers, within the office.
2. Attach Policies To Individual AutoCAD drawing
There are various events which can "attach" policies to AutoCAD drawing and thereby protect it.
A drawing can be protected:
'As soon as' it is created based on a user driven prompts or predefined settings
'As soon as' it is placed in a certain location e.g. folders / file shares
'As soon as' it is attached to an email
'As soon as' it is uploaded to a document / content management system
'As soon as' it is created ( e.g. reports ) within a transactional system
'As soon as' it is "discovered" or "tagged" by a content discovery or a DLP system,
Just before information leaves your network ( via email / web )
3. Control Usage Of The Policy Governed AutoCAD drawing
An AutoCAD drawing which is protected using Seclore FileSecure can be controlled for usage independent of its location or mode of transport.
Using the policies attached to the AutoCAD drawing Seclore FileSecure ensures that usage of the information is in compliance to the policies.
The policy attached to the drawing can be even changed post distribution i.e. the "owner" can change WHO/WHAT/WHEN/WHERE without requesting or resending the information to the recipients.
4. Audit The Usage Of The AutoCAD drawing
An AutoCAD drawing protected with Seclore FileSecure can not only be controlled for usage, it can also be audited.
WHO used the information, WHAT did he/she do, WHEN & WHERE is captured from distributed usage environments and reported centrally.
These audit reports can be sliced and diced using a report builder and can be used in compliance reporting for frameworks like ISO 27001, Sarbanes Oxley, GLBA, PCI DSS & HIPA
The Seclore FileSecure extension for AutoCAD provides IRM capability to dwg and dwf files. The IRM capability provides persistent protection to dwg and dwf files while maintaining all the rich functionality of the native AutoCAD application. This ensures that there is no change in user experience.
Benefits And ROI
Seclore FileSecure for AutoCAD provides enterprises with persistent end-to-end security for AutoCAD drawings through the life cycle of creation, storage, transmission, usage and destruction. Documents owners have full control over the usage of their dwg or dwf files which are protected by Seclore FileSecure, along with complete audit trailing of how they are being used. Dynamic rights management allowed for centralized revocation of rights based on status changes.
In a nutshell, Seclore FileSecure allows enterprises to achieve the "mutually conflicting" goals of security and collaboration by breaking down traditional tenets of information security via distribution control using Rights Management for AutoCAD design documents.
