Secure Your Video Conferencing with Encryption and Best Practices

For most people, video conferencing is integral to their day-to-day work life. But how many pay attention to data security when sharing potentially sensitive information with colleagues, customers, or partners?

Unwanted or disruptive intrusions (aka Zoombombing), data leakages, regulatory violations, and the mishandling of user information took place all too often during the early days of the remote working era.

Fortunately, we have also come a long way to secure video conferencing. The most secure video-conferencing solutions offer robust features like encryption, access control, authentication mechanisms, and participant management. Let’s explore what you should look for in secure video-conferencing software and how to protect sensitive data with the latest video-conferencing security best practices.

What is video-conferencing security, and why is it important?

Secure video conferencing encompasses measures and protocols for protecting sensitive information shared during video calls. It includes techniques and mechanisms like encryption, authentication, access control, data protection, and network security to safeguard against unauthorized access, interception, tampering, and other security threats.

Secure video-conferencing platforms help organizations comply with HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, and other data privacy regulations. They prevent unauthorized access to mitigate the risks of disruptions and data breaches that could lead to the loss of business, regulatory fines, legal consequences, and damaged reputations.

One of the key native features of Slack, the most comprehensive operating system for work, is huddles. With the secure video conferencing of Slack huddles, you can meet compliance standards and work alongside your team in real-time.

Key features of the most secure video-conferencing solutions

Must-have features like high-definition video and audio, screen sharing, annotation, virtual whiteboard, and file sharing are table stakes for seamless and productive video conferencing. While they’re essential for collaboration, they also open up more opportunities for malicious actors to access sensitive information. As such, you should choose a video-conferencing solution that safeguards your meeting environment with these security features:

• End-to-end encrypted video conferencing protects files shared during a video call from interception
• Secure document storage allows only authorized users to access shared files and meeting recordings
• Access permissions enable hosts to control who can view, download, or edit shared files and documents
• Role-based access control (RBAC) allows the host to assign specific permissions and capabilities to participants
• A waiting-room feature enables the host to screen participants before allowing them to join the meeting
• A meeting lock function allows the host to lock the meeting once all intended participants have joined
• Passcodes and invitations ensure that only people with a secure link can access a meeting
• Authentication capabilities like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) help verify participants’ identities
• Meeting controls allow the host to manage participants (e.g. mute/unmute, enable/disable video) to maintain order and security
• Detail activity logs support intrusion detection, regulatory compliance, incident response, and reporting

Use a secure video-conferencing platform that adheres to industry standards like ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and supports compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g. HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA). Choose one that integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack to ensure secure data sharing among apps. For example, Slack huddles integrates with CRM systems, project management apps, customer support software, and more to help organizations streamline workflows without compromising security.

Video-conferencing security best practices

Choosing the right video-conferencing software is just the first step. Organizations must also implement processes and policies to ensure that employees use the security features appropriately for long-term compliance.

Update software and firmware regularly for optimal protection

Stay ahead of the latest threats by making sure that your applications are up to date. Enable automatic updates to install security patches on your video-conference software promptly. Regularly refresh the firmware on your video-conferencing hardware (e.g. cameras and microphones) to minimize vulnerabilities. And stay informed about upgrades and patches your video-conferencing platform releases and test these updates in a controlled environment before organization-wide deployment to avoid disruptions.

Provide user training for long-term success

Any cybersecurity expert will tell you that human error is often the weakest link in the security chain. Your video-conferencing tool is only as secure as users’ ability to use the features correctly and consistently. Implement security policies for video conferencing, and provide support to help employees adhere to the guidelines. Educate users on the importance of video-conferencing security and how to prevent phishing attempts, where hackers steal credentials to access video calls. In Slack huddles, your video meetings are protected while staying connected.

Implement password protection and account security

Enforce a strong password policy that requires users to create complex, unique passwords for their video-conferencing accounts. You may use password managers to store and generate secure passwords to minimize human error. Also, provide account recovery options like security questions or backup email addresses to reduce friction and drive adoption.

Enable multi-factor authentication for layered security

Two-factor or multi-factor authentication requires users to combine something they know (e.g. a password) with something they have (e.g. a code sent to their smartphone). You may facilitate implementation with an authentication app like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator to generate one-time passwords. Periodically review and update authentication methods to ensure that they meet the latest security standards.

Monitor and analyze network traffic for potential threats

Segment your video-conferencing traffic from other network traffic to monitor and manage it more effectively. Implement an intrusion detection system to isolate suspicious activity and send real-time alerts. Regularly analyze logs from video-conferencing sessions to identify patterns or anomalies that may indicate security issues. Design a response plan for handling video-conferencing security incidents, and update it regularly to reflect the latest best practices and platform capabilities.

Use the waiting-room feature and unique meeting IDs

The waiting-room feature allows you to control when participants join a meeting, to screen out unwelcome attendees. Additionally, you should generate a unique meeting ID for each video conference. While using the same ID for all your video calls is more convenient, meeting squatters or unverified participants can steal the link (e.g. from previous meetings’ participants) to access your meetings. You may also add a meeting password to enhance security further.

Use the chatroom function with discretion

Choose a video-conferencing platform that allows you to turn on or off the chatroom feature. Remind attendees not to click on suspicious links posted in a chat. And don’t share sensitive files or data in chatrooms, to reduce the risk of confidential information getting into the hands of the wrong people.

Enable only necessary video-conferencing features

While collaboration tools like file sharing are great, they increase the risk of sharing sensitive information with people who shouldn’t see it. Meeting hosts should turn on only the features they need based on the nature of each meeting. For example, you may mute all participants in a companywide meeting when the CEO gives a speech or turn off the screen-sharing feature for all participants by default to prevent someone from sharing sensitive or malicious content.

Secure and encrypted video conferencing from Slack

Slack huddles allow team members to make video and audio calls with one click from any channel or direct message. Links, documents, and messages shared during a huddle are saved for easy reference. You may wonder — the convenience is great, but what about security? Can I discuss sensitive matters or share confidential information in a huddle?

Huddles falls under the same security program as the rest of Slack, which covers identity and data management, data protection, and information governance. It meets specific industry regulations and international security and data privacy standards, including HIPAA, FINRA, FedRAMP, TISAX, IRAP, ISMAP, and GDPR.

Huddles also allows you to generate a unique meeting link, share your screen securely, and approve access requests. Learn more about our handy video and audio calling feature to see how it can help you improve productivity and collaboration without compromising security.