A data leak occurred in a cross-sea bridge project: the BIM model of the main bridge steel structure was leaked, curtain-elocker and the core parameters flowed into the hands of competitors, leading to an upgrade of the project risk assessment.
The investigation found that the source of the leak was a project manager of the construction party. Although the BIM system can control who can read, modify, or even download data, the project manager needs to download engineering drawings to use them. Because he has the permission to download data, the existing permission control of BIM cannot prevent data leakage.
Limitations of system permissions from traditional Windows to BIM
Whether it is Windows or large systems such as BIM and SAP, as long as users have the right to read system data, they can leak sensitive data through screenshots, copy and paste, download files, etc. For some systems that store important data, this is an obvious shortcoming.
This is a common pain point in data security in the construction industry:
Strike a balance between using data and avoiding leakage: Allow users of different roles to use system data, but worry that they will take away sensitive data or accidentally leak it during the use of data.
The conflict between collaboration and security: Every construction project involves different units, such as designers, construction units in different fields, and even government departments. When sensitive files are transmitted and used between these units, if they are not handled properly or a user has bad intentions, it is easy to cause data leakage, and it is not easy to track them down.
Curtain e-locker DLP and Curtain Frontier DRM help enterprises prevent internal leakage and ensure data confidentiality when collaborating between enterprises
After the project introduced Curtain e-locker DLP, users can use, modify, and even download data in the BIM system as before, but can only access these sensitive data in the designated location. This design is like an electronic fence. Users can use these data normally and unimpeded within the range. When they need to take the data away, they must have higher permissions or ask for approval from the leader.
When files need to be collaborated between enterprises, they use Curtain Frontier DRM to keep the files confidential. When a user wants to pass the file to a third party for use, he can set different permission controls, such as: who can read the file, the validity period of the file, the number of times it is opened, print, take screenshots, and even whether the computer must be online to open the file. This ensures that when the files are circulated and used, they can effectively prevent the data from being leaked.
Three months after implementation, they have achieved risk operation prevention and control and complete operation traceability while maintaining efficient BIM collaboration. It has become a model case for industry data protection.
This case shows that in the context of multi-party collaboration in the construction industry, data security is a basic problem that must be solved. The intelligent permission control of Curtain e-locker DLP and Curtain Frontier DRM not only meets the differentiated needs of design institutes, construction parties, and supervisors, but also minimizes the risk of leakage.
Just as cross-sea bridges need seismic isolation devices to cope with complex external forces, core data also needs “digital cofferdams” – when collaborative data is exchanged like a tide, the system can still ensure that each operation permission is clear and traceable throughout the process, so that the project is as stable as a rock in efficient advancement.