Best Practices of Video Conferencing Security

Video Conferencing Security is one of the crucial things to keep in mind when attending or organizing a video conference. Due to the present pandemic situation around the world, the trend of remote working which was gaining momentum silently got a big push forward. This has helped people to carry on with their work from their separate locations.

Meetings and conferences are an integral part of any business or organization. Major decisions are made when all heads are put together. And this is made possible by the various video-conferencing solutions available worldwide. With the video conferencing software installed in their PC, laptop or phone people can attend the meeting from any location.

Common Security related issues in Video Conferencing

While business meetings, remote education and virtual social gatherings and many others are opting for the online video conferencing platforms to keep functioning, hackers and cyber-criminals have started a series of new attacks targeting video conferencing technologies and their users.

Here are some of the common security concerns:

• Malicious Links–  After gaining access to your meeting room, hackers can trick participants into clicking on malicious links shared via the chat. This allows the attackers to steal credentials. Therefore, it is more critical than ever to enforce passwords for all meetings.
• Stolen Meeting Links– Reusing meeting links for multiple sessions makes it easy for attackers to hack them. Therefore, to avoid unauthorized access to your meetings, use the notifications feature to know when someone has joined your meeting room. A better alternative is not to allow others to join your meeting before the host by disabling “Join before Host.”
• Meeting Bombing– This is where an uninvited guest joins a video conferencing meeting. The man motive is either to listen in on the conversation or to disrupt the meeting by sharing inappropriate media. These incidents usually take place when there is no password for the meeting. Or, the attacker can discover or guess the meeting ID as well as information about the meeting including the meeting name and the meeting organizer.
• Data Shared With Third Parties– To be on the safer side, it is important to have data protection agreements in place with third parties that address appropriate security controls; for example, data encryption, role-based controls for authorized users to access, etc.

5 Best Video Conferencing Security Practices

While everything seems to be much easier and manageable in a video conference, there are some security details that you need to be aware of. Hackers and various other types of cyber threats are always active around the corner waiting for the moment to catch you off-guard.

Therefore to make sure all your conversations are secure, here are some of the best video conferencing security practices you need to follow.

Study the platform & check settings

When you are going to start using a video conferencing software, the first thing you need to do is log-in, monitor and learn about everything possible. Configure it according to your organizations requirements. Go into the settings and check out the available features. This step is where you get acquainted with the software and then make the necessary adjustments in the setting.

Check your security and privacy settings in the tool. For example, a host of a video conference may be able to disable screen-sharing abilities in their pre-meeting setting or in admin controls. Also taking the administrative steps beforehand will save time during the meeting.

Set Video conferencing rules

Setting up some basic rules for your participants will go a long way in keeping your video conference secure. Outlining user permissions for video conferences in-house as well as those who will be connecting remotely enables you, as a host to set clear boundaries and expectations for users.

As sensitive information is exchanged in the video conferences, the need to maintain its privacy is crucial. Host along with other participants need to follow the security protocols to make sure there are no leaks.

Use new meeting ID

Open virtual meeting places can be easily hacked by cyber-criminals. This can also happen if you use a personal room for a meeting or re-use the same meeting ID for multiple sessions. While using the same meeting ID may seem convenient for the host to share, however, this is prone to get hacked.

Invitation only video conferences are generally more secured as they require the participant to input the authentication details like password or pin to join the conference. Going through all the process reduces the chances of any intruder.

Effective Password Management

For meetings use strong passwords consisting of 12 characters or more. And provide the passwords to only those individuals who need to join the meeting. Meeting passwords should be never shared publicly. When you create an account in any video conferencing platform reset your default login credentials and set strong passwords.

According to password recommendations, a complex, unique combination of at least 12 uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols make a strong password. It is necessary to update passwords regularly and never use the same password for different accounts.

Mindful sharing & Reporting

While most video conferencing software provides encryption, security experts still recommend to share specific applications only and not the entire desktop as per your organization’s security policies. Also in a video conference participants need to be careful what data they share so that they do not share other sensitive documents during the conference.

If at any time you feel any user behavior strange, report any suspicious activity immediately. You can reach out to your corporate Information Security and Information Technology teams or the video conferencing software vendor for such issues.

Some more security tips

• Keep your “host” pin private and treat it like sensitive data.
• Turn on “Announce When User Enters” for all meetings.
• Restrict meetings to authenticated attendees only if possible.
• Turn off video if not needed and disable private chat if possible.
• Enable “mute participants on arrival” if available.
• Enable meeting “waiting rooms” if possible.