Video conferencing is one of the best tools in today’s workplace. Instead of having to gather all the people needed for a meeting in one room, you can talk to all of them through a video conference call. You don’t even have to be in the same location or even the same country to talk to someone with this technology. All you need is to equip all of the people involved with VoIP and computers with cameras and sound recording, and you’re good to go.
But this also has drawbacks, and one of them is the lack of security. Consult any company that offers eDiscovery solutions and has a background in computer security. They will tell you how easy it is to penetrate a company through video conference calls. To protect your data and your business, read the suggestions below and implement them in your company:
Inform your employees
Your people should be your first line of defense in data security. They’re the ones who often handle information in your company. Inform them of the protocol when it comes to using video conference calls.
First of all, tell them not to share sensitive data over a video conference call if it is not necessary. Better yet, make it a rule to always disable the file exchange in their Skype or any other chat programs if they are in a video conference. Also, when they are about to go live in a conference call, they should first position their cameras so that they won’t record any sensitive data. If you have contracts or documents with sensitive information on your desk, anyone can check them out. All a hacker would have to do is to control a computer’s camera and zoom in on those documents without your knowledge.
You should also tell your employees to test their microphones and limit the range to just the speaker. A lot of computers these days have high-quality built-in microphones capable of snatching even the smallest sound. Ask your employees to limit the range of the microphones so that they don’t pick up conversations.
Use encryption if possible
If possible, you should use encryption in all of your programs, not just in video conference calls. Although many say that the present technology still hasn’t come up with a way to encrypt video calls. Since video encryption isn’t possible yet, you should at least encrypt all the information you’ll be sharing with people in your video conference. One way to do this is to implement a rule that no one shares information via a video conference call.
If you or the person you’re talking to needs to pass on a document, you should use the company’s email to send that file so that it can be shared in a secure program. Make it a habit not to share files through video calls.
Video conference calls have made it possible for companies to interact and communicate effectively even if the people involved aren’t in the same room. But despite the lack of security in video calls, they can still be beneficial to your company.
