Intellectual Property (IP) Protection

Protect the Crown Jewels

Intellectual property (IP), such as development research, CAD/CAM designs, trade secrets, and strategic business plans are the company’s most important assets. Today’s basic access controls are not adequate to address the increased security requirements for internal and external sharing of sensitive information. Often the proper controls are not in place to prevent inadvertent unauthorized sharing or detect unusual access patterns.

The NextLabs Intellectual Property Protection solution adds a layer of protection to:

Keep IP confidential by restricting access to authorized users and tracking usage to highlight any unauthorized usage.
Prevent theft of trade secrets from unauthorized copies on USB devices, network shares, and file transfers.
Protect IP throughout the product development lifecycle by enhancing access controls and providing persistent rights protection as the information goes through the process.
Control sharing with partners and supply chains by encrypting sensitive information and applying rights protection to restrict sharing and usage.

The solution enhances access controls across heterogeneous applications and systems, such as PDM, document repositories, and CAD/CAM applications to protect IP throughout its entire lifecycle. This ensures that when someone accesses the application, they do not have access to all of the data – only what they are authorized to see. It also ensures that information is protected when it leaves the application and is shared with multiple parties.

Centralized Policy Management

Preventing IP misuse is difficult when devices, data, and users are across the extended enterprise. Centralized management provides consistent policy enforcement across a heterogeneous environment and enables rapid changes when required.

Attribute Based Access Control

Leveraging attributes provides an additional level of authorization to ensure that all contextual factors are met before granting access with any partner or supplier.