Security a key selection criteria for video conferencing technology

An overwhelming majority (96 per cent) of business decision-makers have stated that security is now the most important component to choosing a video, messaging, or calling solution. This is according to a new StarLeaf survey conducted by Vanson Bourne.

 

500 IT decision-makers and Line-of-Business leaders were surveyed from private sector enterprises (with over 1,000 employees) to understand attitudes towards the use of video conferencing systems.

 

Countries included in the survey were the UK, France, Germany, and the US, which covered a wide spectrum of sectors ranging from IT, technology and telecoms, retail, distribution and transport, financial services, manufacturing and production, business and professional services, media, leisure and entertainment, energy, oil/gas and utilities, construction and property, and consumer services. 

 

Notably, findings revealed:

 

• After security, ease-of-use was seen as a top consideration amongst organisations when choosing a vendor for video conferencing (53 per cent).

 

• Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of organisations report that the use of video conferencing in their organisation had increased this year compared to last year.

 

• Over four-in-ten (43 per cent) respondents report that they are based in a different office to those colleagues that they most frequently interact with.

 

Commenting on the findings William MacDonald, Chief Technology Officer at StarLeaf, says, “The results clearly show we’re seeing a distinctive shift in mentality when it comes to adoption and implementation of video conferencing amongst organisations.

 

“Historically, the primary drivers for using a video conferencing system have been cost saving initiatives or to enhance collaboration amongst staff, which has been further stimulated by the growth in cloud computing. The proliferation of remote working means these factors will continue to remain critical but what is increasingly becoming the primary consideration for almost every organisation is security and reliability, fuelled by the threat posed by cybercriminals.”

 

MacDonald continued, “Vulnerabilities within an organisation’s infrastructure and from some cloud providers allow plenty of opportunities for hackers to infiltrate virtual meeting rooms, causing significant disruptions.

 

“Typically, traditional infrastructure security models relate to control and access around the perimeter and often leave internal applications neglected and vulnerable. This makes them an easy target for malicious traffic which can infiltrate or bypass the perimeter defences. Additionally, enterprises using public cloud providers may believe that security is part of their offering, but insecure application programming interfaces (APIs), weak authentication, and user identity protocols can be susceptible to account hijacks. These vulnerabilities may come about because many public clouds support multi-tenancy where you rent computing power or storage space from the cloud provider alongside other, unknown and potentially malicious, tenants.

 

“In contrast, with the right security architecture, a good cloud approach can reduce the friction to deploy upgrades to systems, decrease the need for costly on-site IT maintenance, and be easily configured to prevent unauthorised access. No more hijacking your meetings or malicious control over your communications ensuring they are ready to use in an instant. Additionally, remote and office-based workers can also intuitively use reliable solutions with the confidence that their conferencing is secure. Encrypting the video transmission and data, strengthening the authorisation process, and implementing an advanced firewall are some of the techniques that providers adopt to create a safer environment for the operation and users.

 

MacDonald concluded, “Our data shows that businesses are increasingly recognising their cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The ramifications of disruption can be potentially disastrous for an organisation resulting in significant financial and reputation repercussions. As firms continue to digitally transform and place a greater emphasis on remote and flexible working, it’s imperative you are able to offer your staff the means to communicate safely to ensure business continuity.”