Global supply chains face a broad range of risks, from physical threats to cybersecurity threats. Sharing information with suppliers is essential for the supply chain to function effectively, but it creates significant risks simultaneously with a potential loss of intellectual property (IP). Security is only as strong as the weakest link in the supply chain. Data compromised in the supply chain can be as damaging as that from within the organization. Digital rights management (DRM) is used by many industries, such as the music industry, to protect intellectual property. Organizations are beginning to look at this technology to protect their corporate IP. Netwoven Govern 365 and Microsoft Purview Information Protection provide a robust solution for managing your IP. 

Nine must-haves to implement a resilient supply chain information protection framework 

The following items are essential for a robust supply chain framework: 

1. Keep an updated database of leading suppliers and their sub-tiers. This hierarchy can be very fluid, so it must be maintained and used carefully.  
2. Deploy Microsoft Purview Information Protection to automatically discover, classify, label, and protect sensitive data found in files and documents within your organization.  
3. Ensure all IP-related files emanating from applications such as computer-aided design software, productivity software, and other types of software are protected using the labels for the appropriate suppliers.  
4. Ensure that all information is protected appropriately based on the current hierarchy of leading suppliers and their sub-tiers.  
5. Establish that all data egress points from the company where sharing of files can occur with suppliers are protected. 
6. Put in place all appropriate legal contracts with the leading suppliers. 
7. Confirm that external users are registered appropriately in your identity management system to have access to the files.  
8. Limit trade restricted individuals from accessing critical information as a violation could lead to fines by the government. 
9. Create a solution that is easy to use by all users for adoption. 

Using Govern 365 for managing your supply chain 

Govern 365 with Microsoft Purview Information Protection provides an automated and frictionless solution to protect your company’s sensitive information and limit litigation and compliance exposure, without burdening productivity. 

The key features of Govern 365 that help improve supply chain protection are:

• Supply chain hierarchy management.
• Content Protection across the supply chain hierarchy.
• Easy to use self-service provisioning with Microsoft Teams.
• Ability to add and remove users easily using the workspace manager.
• Ability to restrict restricted individuals from accessing the workspace.
• Visibility and auditing capabilities for tracking usage.
• Dynamic Watermarking capabilities for additional protection.

Govern 365 provides these features by leveraging your investments in Microsoft Purview. Microsoft Purview comes with information protection and data loss prevention capabilities leveraged by Govern 365. 

A particular use case of Intellectual Property Management is a Virtual Data Room (VDR). Historically, VDR platforms were primarily used in specific industries that required enhanced protection of sensitive information. Consequently, the emphasis of these solutions has always been on the secure sharing of said information rather than secure collaboration during its ideation and creation.  

Govern 365 provides the ability to create VDRs. Here are some of the key features of Govern 365 VDR that organizations can use for supply chain IP protection. 

Unified Dashboard 

The Unified Dashboard is a simple interface available in Microsoft Teams and the web that provides access to your existing VDRs and creates new ones easily. 

Figure 1. Govern 365 Unified Dashboard.

The icons in the dashboard cards provide easy-to-navigate features for the user. 

Self-Service Workspace Provisioning 

The provisioning wizard provides a self-service mechanism to create VDR workspaces easily. The choices below are examples that can be configured differently for your organization at the time of deployment. 

Figure 2. Govern 365 New Workspace Request.

User Permissions Management 

Using Govern 365 Access Manager, the workspace owner can easily add or remove users from the workspace or manage permissions at the workspace level. This automatically adjusts the permissions of the content in the workspace for the users.  

Figure 3. Govern 365 Workspace Manager.

The workspace manager allows for access management at the workspace level. 

Use of Corporate Sensitivity Labels 

Govern 365 leverages your corporate sensitivity labels to protect content in VDRs for internal and external use. It allows for encryption and content marking including dynamic watermarking. 

Analytics 

The solution should automatically collect the necessary information about the user’s actions within a given workspace in the form of an audit log that you can extract as a CSV file format at any time, better monitoring your security. 

The workspace analytics integrates with Microsoft Power BI to offer an exhaustive content inventory report of the workspace utilization. 

Doing more with less 

Choosing a VDR provider for your organization takes work. Govern 365’s VDRs are built to work with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to protect your sensitive information while ensuring data sovereignty. Built on Information Protection, external and internal recipients can safely and securely take advantage of secure collaboration while having data stored in their repository, having an intuitive user experience that allows you to customize the product to suit your organizational needs. All in all, Govern 365 enables you to do more with less by utilizing your existing Microsoft 365 estate to its fullest, keeping your return on investment calculator ticking. 

About Netwoven

Netwoven is a Microsoft Solutions Partner focused on unraveling complex business problems leveraging Microsoft technologies. They work with their clients to create and execute digital transformation strategies around secure collaboration, modern software applications, more profound insights from data, advanced infrastructure, and security. Explore Govern 365 and visit the Microsoft Azure Marketplace for a free trial. 

Learn more

Learn more about Microsoft Purview Information Protection. 

To learn more about the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), visit the website where you can learn about the MISA program, product integrations, and find MISA members. Visit the video playlist to learn about the strength of member integrations with Microsoft products.  

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and Twitter (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

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