The Essential Guide to Secure Video Conferencing

Secure Video Conferencing: Understanding the security risks

1. Unauthorized access
2. Data breaches
3. Eavesdropping
4. Malicious attacks
5. Privacy Concerns
6. Vulnerabilities in platform software
7. Insider threats
8. Lack of encryption
9. Insecure network connections

Important features for secure video conferencing

1. Comprehensive encryption
2. Access controls and participant management
3. Secure authentication mechanisms
4. Secure meeting invitations
5. Recording and storage security
6. Regular software updates and patching
7. Privacy and compliance with data protection law
8. Data sovereignty
9. Secure hosting
10. Secure data centers and network connections
11. Security auditing and reporting

Secure Video Conferencing: Understanding the security risks 

To establish a secure video conferencing environment, it’s crucial to be aware of potential risks. By understanding the following security risks, you can take appropriate measures to mitigate them effectively:

1. Unauthorized access: Without proper security measures, unauthorized individuals may gain access to your video conferences. This can lead to disruptions, data breaches or the leaking of sensitive information. Uninvited participants may join the meeting, causing disruptions or potentially engaging in malicious activities.
2. Data breaches: Video conferences often involve the sharing of sensitive information or confidential documents. If the platform or network is not adequately secured, there is a risk of data breaches where unauthorized individuals intercept or access the transmitted data. This can result in the exposure of sensitive information to malicious actors.
3. Eavesdropping: Inadequate encryption or security measures can make video conferences susceptible to eavesdropping. This means that third parties can intercept and listen to the audio or view the video feed of the conference without the participants’ knowledge or consent. Eavesdropping can compromise the privacy and confidentiality of the discussions.
4. Malicious attacks: Video conferencing platforms can be targeted by various types of malicious attacks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, malware, phishing attempts, and social engineering. These attacks aim to disrupt meetings, compromise security or gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.
5. Privacy concerns: Participants may have concerns about the privacy of their personal information during video conferences. This includes issues such as the collection and storage of personal data by the video conferencing tool, potential data sharing with third parties or the lack of control over recorded meetings.
6. Vulnerabilities in platform software: Video conferencing platforms are complex software systems, and like any software, they may have vulnerabilities. Hackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, manipulate the platform’s functionality or compromise the security of the meetings.
7. Insider threats: Insider threats involve individuals with authorized access to the video conferencing system who misuse their privileges. This can include participants sharing sensitive information with unauthorized individuals, intentionally disrupting meetings or engaging in unethical behavior during conferences.
8. Lack of encryption: Encryption ensures that the data exchanged during a secure video conference remains encrypted throughout its entire journey, from the sender to the recipient. Without this encryption, there is a risk of intercepted or compromised data, potentially leading to unauthorized access or data leakage.
9. Insecure network connections: Using unsecured or public Wi-Fi networks for video conferences can expose the communication to potential attacks. Hackers can intercept data transmitted over these networks or perform “man-in-the-middle” attacks, where they position themselves between the participants and capture or manipulate the data being exchanged.

Based on these security risks, we can now look at relevant features to mitigate them and ensure a secure video conferencing experience.

Important features for secure video conferencing

When considering secure video conferencing, several features should be prioritized to ensure the confidentiality, security and privacy of your online meetings. Here are some of the most crucial features:

1. Comprehensive encryption: Comprehensive encryption is a vital feature that ensures that the data exchanged during secure video conferences remains encrypted from the sender to the recipient. This includes the use of encrypted communication protocols (e.g. TLS/SSL) and end-to-end encryption, that ensures that only the participants involved in the conference can access and decrypt the data, preventing unauthorized interception and access.
2. Access controls and participant management: Robust features for access control and rights management enable you to manage access to online meetings and participants permissions effectively. This includes the ability to control who can join the secure video conference, restrict certain actions (e.g. screen sharing, file transfers), and grant different levels of rights to participants based on their roles or privileges.
3. Secure authentication mechanisms: Strong authentication mechanisms add an extra layer of security to secure video conferences. Look for features like two-factor authentication (2FA), where participants must provide additional credentials, such as a unique code or biometric verification, in addition to their passwords, to access a video conferencing tool or join a meeting.
4. Secure meeting invitations: Meeting invitations should include security measures to prevent unauthorized access. This includes features like email authentication or the use of access codes that are only shared with intended participants through secure channels, ensuring that only authorized individuals can participate in a meeting.
5. Recording and storage security: If you plan to record video conferences, it’s important to have robust security measures in place for the storage and access of those recordings. E.g. encryption, access controls and secure storage options help safeguard recorded meetings from unauthorized access and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
6. Regular software updates and patching: Video conferencing platforms should have a proactive approach to security by regularly updating their software and doing penetration tests as well as promptly patching any identified vulnerabilities. This ensures that you have access to the latest security features, patches against malware and protection against emerging threats.
7. Privacy and compliance with data protection law: The video conferencing platform should prioritize privacy and data protection, adhering to relevant regulations such as GDPR, CCPA or other applicable data protection laws. They should have clear policies on data handling, storage and retention as well as data processing agreements available for review.
8. Data sovereignty: The video conferencing tool should allow enterprises and public organizations to fully manage and control their data. This includes for example comprehensive security and data retention policies, which can be configured by organizations according to their compliance and security needs. These data sovereignty features should enable organizations to have full control over how long their data is stored, where it is processed, who may access it and who it may be shared with. 
9. Secure hosting: The video conferencing platform should provide different hosting options (e.g. public cloud, private cloud, on-premise) that fit the IT strategy of an enterprise or public sector organization.
   
   => For organizations that prefer cloud solutions, a secure cloud in a data center in the state/region of the organization would be required. Always remember that popular data centers like AWS or Azure are from US companies. This can be a potential security conflict for organizations based in the EU for example. By storing data within their own jurisdiction or in jurisdictions with robust data protection laws, organizations can have more control and oversight over the data and security of their video conferences.
   
   => For organizations that prefer on-premise tools, a self-hosting option of the video conferencing tool on an own server should be available. (Ideally check that an on-premise version is easy to deploy as well.) An on-premise version should be highly scalable and available with fail-over mechanisms in place, and as such the tool should provide cluster setups for the server.
10. Secure data centers and network connections: The video conferencing tool should have a secure infrastructure with proper safeguards against physical and technical threats. This includes robust data centers, secured networks, 24/7 monitoring, restricted access and regular security audits. The infrastructure should be at least ISO27001 certified to ensure proper security standards.
11. Security auditing and reporting: Look for platforms that provide security auditing and reporting features. These features enable you to track security events, monitor user activity, detect potential vulnerabilities, record admin activities and generate reports (e.g. audit logs) to ensure compliance and identify areas for improvement.

In an era where video conferencing has become a routine part of our lives, it’s crucial to prioritize security and privacy. By prioritizing these important security features, you can select a secure video conferencing platform that offers strong security measures and safeguards for your online meetings. Thereby you can protect the confidentiality of your discussions, ensure the privacy of your data and foster a safe collaboration space for all participants.

Contact us for more information

You would like to receive more information or have questions about secure video conferencing? Please contact our sales team and find out more.