The Manufacturing Data Security Challenge
Manufacturing firms face significant challenges associated with the loss of intellectual property (IP), trade secrets, and research & development (R&D) information through cyber espionage and data breaches, both intentional and accidental. In 2022, the manufacturing industry was the hardest impacted by extortion attacks with 447 victims being reported on Data Leak Sites (PaloAlto, 2023). Whether attacks originate externally from nation state actors and cybercriminal syndicates or internally from trusted insiders, data loss not only affects their own revenue and reputation, but may also adversely impact national security, critical infrastructure, and global economic strength.
Modern manufacturing requires collaborative supply chains throughout the entirety of the product manufacturing lifecycle, increasing the risk of data loss. Not only do firms need to protect their data within their environment, but they also need to trust that their data is being protected beyond their perimeter and outside of their control, by their vendors and suppliers. "Trust" of course isn't a security mechanism – the paradigm of managing risk in the supply chain must shift to enable organizations to protect their data wherever it goes, forever.
Most impacted industry by extortion attacks in 2022
Manufacturing victims reported on Data Leak Sites in 2022
Trade secrets & R&D data are the primary targets
The Real-World Scenario
A global manufacturing firm had an opportunity to win a highly lucrative contract as a supplier for a third-party engineering firm and aimed to differentiate themselves as the most secure vendor for the job. As part of this potential project, the manufacturing firm's engineers on the factory floor would be handling the sensitive information, such as schematics and engineering drawings, belonging to the third-party.
With various regulations and standards at play to ensure the protection of the highly sensitive information (such as EAR99, NIST, and soon, CMMC), the firm needed to demonstrate why they were the best choice to fulfill the contract, while minimizing internal friction and costs.
Ensuring that front line workers were able to seamlessly access critical data with no disruption to their typical workflow was essential for keeping costs down and maintaining efficiency and productivity. An easy to use, yet robust mechanism for multisite comprehensive data protection seemed like an impossible task given the typical trade-offs.
Previous attempts of legacy approaches to lockdown data, such as by using data loss prevention (DLP) technologies had proven difficult to manage and highly disruptive to factory operations. DLP's perimeter-focused approach failed once sensitive files left the network, which is challenging to address in their multisite multiparty supply chains. Once the data was gone, it was gone for good with no control, protection, or visibility. Additionally, the complex configuration and management at the administrative level, in addition to slow performance, disruption to business processes, and excessive false positives resulting from DLP forced the firm to seek new solutions to combat data loss.
How Keyavi Solved It
Using Keyavi, the manufacturing firm successfully won the multi-million-dollar bid, demonstrating exceptional care in protecting their partner's sensitive information with a zero-trust and data-centric approach.
Administrator Setup
Administrators set up Keyavi's Intelligent Directory service with pre-set policies, defining who can access the files, where and when, forever.
Secure File Ingestion
As sensitive files arrive from the third-party, they are immediately stored in the Intelligent Directory folder system.
Policy Infusion
These files become encrypted and infused with Keyavi's policies — AES encryption with real-time policy-based data access control — making each document self-protecting and intelligent from the inside out.
Controlled Access
Front line engineers access files in a read-only viewer, where editing, printing, screen-sharing, and screenshots have been disabled.
Real-Time Policy Management
Administrators can update policies on-the-fly, no matter where the file or copies exist, and see forensics of all access attempts via SIEM/SOAR integration.
Project Completion
Upon completion of the project, user access can be revoked entirely — ensuring no residual access to sensitive third-party data.
The Outcome
The firm successfully shifted the paradigm by using Keyavi to infuse security into the data itself, allowing the data to become self-protecting and intelligent, with perpetual security, control, and visibility wherever it went.
Self-protecting data eliminated the complexity associated with legacy protection measures, while allowing for seamless usage by factory floor workers.
As Keyavi's cutting-edge data protection is being introduced across the industry, gaining that competitive edge and confidence that your data — and your third-party's — is secure will set you apart and you can focus on your own innovations, productivity, and revenue.
Book a DemoInsider threat risk eliminated through policy-enforced access controls
Zero disruption to factory floor operations
EAR99, NIST, and CMMC compliance requirements satisfied
Complete perpetual audit trail for all document access events
Contract secured — differentiated as the most secure vendor
Ready to protect your manufacturing data?
See how Keyavi helps manufacturing firms secure sensitive IP, meet compliance requirements, and eliminate insider threat risk — without disrupting operations.