Trusted With the Blueprint: The Cyber Risk Hiding in Contract Manufacturing and Supply Chains

Your customer handed you their most valuable design files. Right now, can you tell them exactly who accessed them, from which device, and whether they’ve been copied, emailed, or uploaded? Most organisations in a supply chain can’t.

Manufacturing has been the most attacked sector globally for five consecutive years. But the IP risk doesn’t stop at the factory floor. Every time a design file, engineering specification, or controlled document moves between a prime, a subcontractor, a supplier, or a consultant, exposure multiplies and visibility drops. For most supply chains, once the file leaves, control is gone.

Join GuardWare CEO Rizwan Mahmood alongside Chris Rule, General Manager of GME Defence, and Brahman Thiyagalingham, Chief Information and Security Officer at GME, as they unpack what it takes to prove control over customer IP across contract manufacturing and the broader supply chain.

They’ll discuss: 

1. How handling customer IP changes the cyber risk profile of any supply chain partner.
2. Why traditional security tools fail to protect design files, CAD drawings, and engineering IP.
3. What customers and defence primes actually want to see as evidence of control.
4. How to maintain control over a file once it leaves your environment — The accountability pressure flowing down through supply chains to SME partners.
5. Practical first steps for any organisation handling third-party IP.

This is a thought leadership conversation, not a product demo. Whether you’re a contract manufacturer, a subcontractor, a supplier, or a prime holding your chain accountable, this conversation is for you.