Data security for EDM/BIM collaborative platforms
When implementing and using Electronic Document Management (EDM) software, it is essential to establish a process and best practices for IT security, depending on the project's level of criticality.
These measures, coupled with a collaborative EDM platform that meets all security criteria, will guarantee optimum confidentiality and integrity of the information stored in the EDM over time. stored in the EDM.
First, let's take a look at the main risks associated with data exchange and storage during a construction project, whether BIM or not. We'll then look at how to better understand and control these risks to ensure maximum security and sovereignty for your construction project data.
The main risks :
- Risks related to equipment and people
- Risks related to hosting infrastructures
- Risks associated with data transit on the cloud
Risks related to equipment and people
When we talk about data risk, the first thing that comes to mind is cybercrime. This has become a major issue in our digital age.
It is therefore essential to develop effective prevention, detection and response strategies to counter these threats and ensure the protection of sensitive data. Because the first challenge is human.
There are two main risks associated with human intervention:
- Human negligence.
It can take many forms, including the use of weak or shared passwords, lack of security awareness, non-compliance with security policies and procedures, opening malicious attachments or links, lost or stolen data storage devices, and many others.
- Hacking and cyber attacks .
To find out more about best practices in cybersecurity, we recommend the articles published by the Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information (ANSSI), which give excellent recommendations on the subject (human error, preventing cyber-attacks....).
https://www.ssi.gouv.fr/entreprise/bonnes-pratiques/
So, strengthening security and control on the user side is certainly essential to guarantee the protection of your data. These are well-known issues, and ones that all software publishers and/or integrators must have addressed and implemented with their customers.
Best practices for a collaborative EDM platform publisher.
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Guard against potential flaws in the development software used,
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Guarantee software stack updates (quality plan)
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Ensure the reliability of developments (especially if outsourced)
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Complete mastery of the technologies used (training, testing, etc.)
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Training engineers and consultants
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Empowering your own staff according to the context (secret or top secret)
Risks related to hosting infrastructures
Most editors of collaborative EDM/BIM platforms are very evasive when it comes to mentioning the type of infrastructure that will host your data.
Yet it's essential to understand and master the physical dimension of data storage and hosting.
Several factors, often underestimated, can lead to the permanent loss of your construction project data:
▶️Les physical disabilities
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- 🔹Components (e.g. hard disk, power supply card...)
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- 🔹Network and power supply for physical servers
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- 🔹Equipment (power, machine capacity...)
▶️Les incidents (fires, floods, etc.)
▶️Les deliberate nuisance (malicious and terrorist acts)
To protect yourself against these risks, you need to ensure that your EDM/BIM software or collaborative platform provider adopts a high level of excellence when it comes to the reliability of your data storage:
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- 🔹Compliance with ISO 27001 and Tier 3 datacenter standards, guaranteeing 99.982% availability of your data
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- 🔹A high level of data redundancy (RAID), with data distributed across several "mirrored" hard disks
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- 🔹A true backup strategy between production and backup servers
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- 🔹Local hosting spread over several sites to reduce the risk of failure Preserve data sovereignty at country level
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- 🔹A server cluster strategy that guarantees greater security and scalability for your data, to optimize performance
At AxeoBIM, we believe that the security of your data is no longer an option. That's why we offer a level of hosting excellence that adapts to your needs, from local datacenter servers to on-site servers. See our offer ▶️
Data security: the Cloud Act and data sovereignty
Did you know that a large majority of the data in the 3D models you view may be in transit to a third country?
Indeed, since 2018, the U.S. Cloud Act has allowed U.S. administrations to access data hosted on computer servers located in other countries.
So, as soon as you use American software or servers, the data in transit can theoretically be retrieved by the American administration.
So how can you guarantee the sovereignty of all your project data?
It's simple:
- 🔹Host your data with a local provider in a European country, ideally on an "on-premise" server.
- 🔹A 3D model viewer published by a European company whose server is located in the project country.
At AxeoBIM, we've developed a new model viewer that not only meets data sovereignty requirements , but also uses the latest video game graphics technology for an enhanced user experience .
This viewer is available in the axeoBIM.▶️ BIM offer.
Conclusion
Securing project and asset data is a crucial issue in the digital transformation of companies. The implementation of a collaborative EDM/BIM (CDE) platform must be accompanied not only by good IT security practices, but also by a reliable hosting system to guarantee a high level of data reliability and availability. This includes compliance with ISO 27001 and Tier 3 standards for datacenters, data redundancy, backup strategy and local hosting with distribution over several sites.
To find out more, and discover how AxeoBIM helps some of the world's largest corporations secure their sensitive data (Aeronautics (Dassault Aviation), Armaments (Turgis & Gaillard), Ministries (Interior, Defense, Army), laboratories...), don't hesitate to contact us.
Further information
AxeoBIM is a complete, intuitive and modular collaborative platform for construction actors.
Headquarters:
AXXONE SYSTEM - AxeoBIM
55 Galline Avenue
69100 Villeurbanne
France
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