Business

In an age when organisations like Wikileaks and Anonymous function on the internet, the biggest concern with taking to online services for companies is being hacked. Sensitive information, including but not restricted to trade secrets are often jeopardized and organisations usually go to great lengths to ensure that emails and other internet services are encrypted and protected by a firewall. The New York Times recently published an article about the lack of safety measures taken by companies that are vulnerable to losses through information leaks. The article explains how companies often set up their videoconferencing so it works outside the firewall to bypass complicated network configurations. Rapid7, a Boston based company that looks for security holes in equipment apparently dialled into several companies’ unguarded, empty meeting rooms. The article, however, simplifies the issue too much. It’s not that easy to just hack and overhear sensitive information being discussed via videoconferencing traffic online. Here are a few reasons why: Firstly, as an industry standard, all video conferencing signals are Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encrypted. A potential hacker would have to hack the encryption to access the audio or video of the call. Continue reading →