Agencies that normally don’t use video teleconferencing are now forced to change the way things are done, thanks to recent COVID-19 stay-at-home mandates. While change can be hard, so is knowing the best option to use.
Quality and ease of use are some of the top items an agency may look for in a video teleconferencing service, however it’s vital not to forget the importance of security, especially for government entities.
Why do you need a secure video conferencing platform?
Companies like Google’s Nest and Zoom are still making it relatively easy for hackers to access their live video feeds. Video conferencing and IoT video devices are high profile targets, and by mixing unsecured networks and subpar video conferencing security practices, you’re opening yourself and your agency up to big vulnerabilities. Video conferencing is widely used to enable discussion on the most important aspects of business and life. For those under community supervision, healthcare information, details of finances, employment, case information and personal recovery details are all likely to be divulged at one point or another.
There are quite a few free options available for video conferencing. Let’s take a look at a few and compare them against the industry standard (since 1995) Cisco’s WebEx.
Zoom
Probably the most popular option, the people’s choice, but out of the box Zoom only offers end-to-end encrypted chat—meaning only the participants in the exchange have access to the contents of the messages—it’s video calls are not encrypted in the same way by default. On the host, this end to end Video encryption must be configured by an administrator. Just the other day, a couple schools in Massachusetts had their video classes hacked.
Last year, Zoom had a flaw that allowed hackers to turn on someone’s webcam without their consent, and without them noticing. On top of that, when someone had the Zoom app closed and even uninstalled, the software left a web server up and running, allowing for an automated install of the app if someone invited the user to a Zoom call. Finally, Zoom makes it really hard for you to join calls without installing the app.
Google Meet
The business version of Google Hangouts. Easy to use but is not end-to-end encrypted and requires a google account.
BlueJeans
While most of the desired security protocols are there, reliability of the platform is a problem. Frequent outages and a somewhat non-intuitive configuration make it difficult for users. When software is difficult to configure it can lead to mistakes which can open security risks.
UberConference
The free plan only allows 45-minute calls and cuts the call at that time. Enough said.
Slack
Because of Slack’s default settings, when a user creates a link to a file shared on Slack, it is automatically a public link. Anyone can click on it and have full access without any sort of password or log-in. When Slack went public in April 2019, it went so far as to warn investors that cyber security hacks posed a risk to the stock’s earnings.
Cisco WebEx
Encrypted video conferencing is the best way to ensure any sensitive discussions and materials don’t fall into the wrong hands. As such, it’s a key requirement in many audits for highly regulated industries including finance, government, and healthcare. All communications between WebEx clients on smartphones or desktops and the cloud are encrypted using strong ciphers and current industry-standard protocols.
Concerning passwords, WebEx Meetings will encrypt all passwords with SHA-2 hashing and salting and also Network Based Recordings at both the file and volume level. Data loss prevention (DLP) tools have long been the first line of defense against the actions that often precipitate breaches, such as the unusual movement of sensitive files. The free and alternative conferencing apps discussed above make it relatively straightforward to send data beyond the corporate firewall and to bypass company-owned endpoints altogether. WebEx empowers compliance managers to integrate their existing DLP policies, in order to secure content sharing with people outside the organization.
With WebEx an organization can:
WebEx provides a fully secure collaboration platform that does not compromise on essential features such as content sharing and search. Below is the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant report for meeting solutions.
Cisco WebEx is the clear leader in security, compliance and seamless video conferencing user experience—from the pocket to the office.
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