Global Energy Innovator Strengthens ITAR Compliance With Support From Virtru Private Keystore

As a global leader in energy, this company is no stranger to handling sensitive data. A crucial part of its work includes routinely sharing proprietary designs, controlled unclassified information (CUI), and data subject to export controls, often within the demanding regulatory environments of the defense industry. To safeguard this information and maintain compliance with rigorous standards like CMMC and ITAR, this organization needed a reliable, user-friendly data protection solution. Enter Virtru.

With Virtru, this energy innovation organization can:

• Smooth internal and external collaboration processes through secure sharing of sensitive data

• Meet targeted encryption standards outlined in CMMC and ITAR

• Retain control over their encryption keys, promoting data sovereignty and ITAR compliance with the Virtru Private Keystore

Smoothing the Way for Secure External Collaboration

The ability to collaborate securely with partners outside of a perimeter, including the Department of Defense (DoD) and various entities within the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), is vital to the business.

By incorporating Virtru into its operations, this energy innovator has enabled its teams to communicate confidential project details, share sensitive design specifications with suppliers, and collaborate on research and development initiatives faster and simpler than before.

In one click, the organization’s employees have the ability to protect the data end-to-end with military-grade encryption - minus portals, passwords, and roundabout workflows. Virtru nestles directly within Outlook, allowing employees to save time and focus on the task at hand.

Making encryption easy is one thing, but the hardest part about encrypting can be decrypting. With Virtru, the company’’s external partners can authenticate their identity and access the data without having to create a new account or log into a portal. 

"The feedback from external collaborators has been very positive,” explained the organization’s security specialist. “Our external partners find Virtru easy and intuitive to use."

Meeting Compliance with Virtru Private Keystore

Data access goes to whoever possesses the keys to unlock it. The organization knows this - and so does the U.S. government. That’s why the ITAR carve-out was born.

To safeguard USML technical data from non-U.S. access, businesses dealing in this sensitive data are mandated to use encryption certified by NIST, ensuring data remains protected during transmission and meets specific security standards. Additionally, information needed to decrypt the data cannot be shared with third-party providers.

In addition to using the end-to-end Virtru encryption add-in for Outlook, Virtru's Private Keystore emerged as a vital component of the organization’s compliance strategy. In addition to encrypting sensitive data protected by ITAR, and CUI protected by CMMC, the organization can have complete domain and responsibility over their own encryption keys.

“Virtru Private Keystore ensures that our encryption keys are kept under our control,” explained the security specialist. “This not only helps us maintain ITAR compliance but provides an added layer of security and control over our sensitive data.”

Meeting stringent compliance regulations like CMMC and ITAR give the company a strategic advantage not only in the marketplace, but with their existing relationships in the DIB. Their clients can trust that the security of CUI and USML technical data won’t be at the mercy of cloud providers or foreign adversaries.

Leading the Way in Secure Data Handling

By choosing Virtru, this energy innovator is taking a proactive stance against the constantly shifting landscape of cybersecurity threats. The adoption of a robust data protection solution like Virtru not only supports the organization's efforts to protect sensitive data but also situates the company as a forerunner in its sector.

This organization is among a cohort of DIB contractors paving the way toward a future where secure, efficient collaboration is the norm in the defense industry, leaving legacy data protection methods behind. [cont’d]

The seamless and intuitive use of Virtru, and the positive feedback from external collaborators, suggests that more organizations could benefit from following this organization’'s lead.