Cybersecurity Tips for Remote Workers: Video Conferencing

Posted by Cristina Lucas on Apr 6, 2020 10:45:00 PM

For small, medium and large businesses, one of the hottest topics today is that of cybercrime. Protecting confidential information is not only crucial for your customers but also the future of your company’s success.

Research from Cybersecurity Ventures has found that cybercrime will cost the world in excess of $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015. Meanwhile, data collated by Wikipedia, estimates that the average cost of one single data breach will be over $150 million by 2020.

For Canadian businesses, Carbon Black’s second Canada Threat Report found 88 percent of Canadian businesses reported that they suffered a data breach during the past 12 months.

Video conferencing has grown in popularity in recent years, and exploded exponentially in the past 6 weeks, as many companies have been searching to find ways to connect their unexpected remote workforce.

Unfortunately, like any technology, criminals are constantly searching for vulnerabilities and weaknesses in video conferencing systems in a bid to access sensitive information and gain profit.

Thankfully, there are plenty of methods that your company can take to minimize the odds of cybercrime affecting your business. Before we get into those, let’s first take a look at what cybercrime actually is and how it can impact your video conference.

What is cybercrime and how can it affect video conferences?

Cybercrime refers to a wide range of criminal activities that target technologies connected to the internet. Criminals use a variety of methods - such as ransomware, malware, phishing, crypto-mining, and many others - to steal sensitive corporate data, damage devices or access payment card information.

These criminals are then able to use this information to blackmail your company, sell it to someone else or access your company’s bank account information.

While video conference cybercrime is generally pretty rare compared to other online crimes, online meetings can often pose a source of sensitive information for cybercrime attackers. Discussions that cover sensitive topics or the future of your company could potentially be recorded and stolen by unwelcome participants.

How can your business ensure your video conferences are secure?

Cybercrime can have long-lasting effects and deteriorate trust. That’s why it’s important you implement some simple strategies that boost the security of your online meetings.

To help ensure cybercrime doesn’t affect your company, we have listed four tips that will help you host secure video conferences:

1 - Protect video conferences with effective settings & passwords

All commercial video platforms today have a myriad of security features that can be enabled at the company level, which will then filter down as defaults to any users hosting or attending video conferences. Some common company settings that can enhance security include:

  • Disabling “join before host”
  • Disabling using a personal meeting ID (and therefore all are unique alphanumeric IDs)
  • Adding watermarks to video feeds
  • Require a password for all meeting types
  • Turning on encryption for traditional hardware participants (H323 / SIP)
  • Enabling notifications for when participants try to join a meeting prior to the host
  • Disable international phone access to domestic video meetings

The easiest change to make when hosting a video conference is to create a password that attendees are required to enter before gaining permission to access the meeting. By creating a password that cannot be easily guessed, you will be significantly minimizing the chance of a cybercriminal gaining access to your video conference.

2 - What audio visual (AV) solutions are you using?

The use of old and outdated technology could be putting your video conferences at risk of cybercrime. Legacy systems no longer receive important security updates, making them vulnerable to criminal activity.

Ensuring you update your technology is crucial, but there comes a certain point in time where manufacturers no longer create new updates for outdated technology. Get in touch with an AV expert, such as Genesis Integration, to make sure the system you are currently using is protected from the threat of cybercrime.

3 - Have a policy in place for all video conferences

You probably have a usage policy for all technologies taken outside your office, or outside devices used inside your office, and the same should be done for your video conferences. All video conferences should have clear rules for those taking part in your office, as well as those attending remotely.

This policy can include:

  • Discussing sensitive information in private rooms and not public spaces.
  • Ensuring those recording video conferences have permission to do so.
  • Not using personal devices to record video conferences.

4 - Make the most of expert support

Managing and maintaining video conferencing technology is complex. It takes time and resources, and it’s unlikely that your company has an AV expert in-house to help with any problems that you encounter.

When installing a video conferencing system for your business, consider investing in audio visual as a service (AVaaS). In this type of contract arrangement, your company will pay a monthly fee to a professional technology supplier which will manage every aspect of your video conferencing solution.

By outsourcing ongoing maintenance and regular updates to an expert, you will ensure your video conferences are efficient, effective and completely secure from cybercriminals.

Contact us

Are you looking for more information about securing your video conferencing technologies, or want to find out how Genesis Integration can help? Contact our team of experts today. We would love to help.

Tags: Videoconferencing solutions, Tips For Remote Working

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