A global manufacturer keeps IP secure in an air-gapped environment with Seclore

The Challenge

The company faced several key challenges in protecting intellectual property (IP) before migrating to Seclore’s solution:

• Securing Enterprise IP: Protecting documents such as service manuals and spare parts specification files in air-gapped customer fabrication labs and isolated environments with little to no internet access posed a unique challenge.
• Managing Customer IP: Ensuring secure collaboration on projects was critical. The company needed to protect information sharing to prevent leaks or theft that could compromise sensitive customer data, such as design documents.
• Safeguarding Data During Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): During M&A activity, the integration of systems and the involvement of multiple parties led to increased risks for sensitive data, including employee and financial records. Ensuring the security of this valuable information required robust safeguards to prevent leaks or unauthorized access.

Overcoming these challenges required a well-defined approach to prioritizing IP protection without hindering daily operations.

The Solution

The solution involved transitioning the firm’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) system, which controls access to digital documents, from its previous provider to Seclore. The project required collaboration between the project team, document management platforms, and various business units.

Through meticulous testing and implementation, the team successfully migrated approximately 2.1 million files to the new DRM solution. An indexing feature within the system allowed for easy document searchability, significantly improving information retrieval.

Here are some key benefits:

• Enhanced Security in Isolated Environments: Seclore’s DRM-enforced user and device access controls even in air-gapped environments, guaranteeing high levels of security despite limited internet connectivity.
• Secure Collaboration: The new system enabled secure and efficient collaboration with customers and suppliers through a cloud platform. This ensured the safe sharing and management of sensitive documents outside the organization’s network, with the added ability to revoke access once the intended use period ended.
• M&A Security: The company was now able to leverage secure public cloud platforms like M365 or Box to manage M&A documents. This provided scalable and robust storage solutions while ensuring data protection and privacy.
• Comprehensive Security Framework: Dynamic watermarking, access control, and user activity tracking on documents provide a comprehensive security framework, preventing unauthorized access and document misuse.

Seclore’s DRM system was deployed enterprise-wide, becoming the default solution and significantly enhancing security and document management with minimal disruption. The Seclore DRM quickly became a crucial component for secure document handling across all business activities.

The Results

• Successfully secured 2.1 million documents that consisted of intellectual property (IP) to Seclore’s DRM.
• The business now ensures full compliance with government and company-wide regulations, significantly reducing risk and enhancing operational integrity.
• The customer gained confidence in securely sharing confidential materials, leading to better collaboration with their clients and improved business efficiency.