Remote work and web conferencing: Security considerations

With work from home becoming the new normal, use of remote work tools and web-conferencing applications has become widespread and even unavoidable. It is therefore wise to understand the security standards provided by these remote tools, and how to make the best use of them.

Benefits of using remote work and web conferencing applications

In the current work from home scenario video conferencing has emerged as the platform to keep the collaboration and coherence between employees intact. It has even helped increase the productivity of the employees. Apart from this, remote work and video conferencing have reduced costs drastically, as money is not currently being spent on infrastructure maintenance or travel.

Why you should secure your teleconferencing application

If a hacker finds a way into an employee's video conferencing application profile, the number of ways in which they can cause damage is endless. For example, they can initiate calls or join a call pretending to be an employee. This would put sensitive data and future strategies that are potentially being discussed in these calls at risk. Or, the hacker can use the chat section in the call to spread malware across the organization.

Steps to secure teleconferencing applications

• Trusted devices: Allow login to enterprise teleconferencing app only through trusted devices that were registered and approved beforehand.
• Multi-factor authentication: Don't depend on just passwords to secure logins. Include at least one more authentication method.
• Stronger passwords: Take the first step towards security: educate employees about the best practices to follow while setting passwords, and ensure they follow them.
• Protected meetings: Enforce passwords for all meetings, and avoid sharing the meeting link through social media. You can also use waiting rooms, so that hosts can allow only invited users to the meeting.

Secure your video conferencing applications and remote work tools with ADSelfService Plus

ADSelfService Plus is an integrated Active Directory self-service password management and single sign-on (SSO) solution that helps ensure your enterprise applications are safe from cyberattacks. By enabling SSO to SAML-enabled enterprise applications and ADSelfService Plus, you can

• Implement MFA: Secure your application logins with advanced authentication methods including biometrics, YubiKey, and Google Authenticator.
• Enforce conditional access: Protect access to applications based on predefined conditions about location, device, time, and IP addresses.
• Ensure strong passwords: Restrict usage of patterns, dictionary words, and characters in passwords.

Other features of ADSelfService Plus

• Self-service password management: Enable users to reset forgotten passwords and unlock their accounts without involving the help desk, anywhere at any time.
• Password synchronizer: Sync the Windows Active Directory user password across various platforms automatically, eliminating password fatigue.
• Directory self-update: Allow users to update personal information in Active Directory, freeing the help desk from this simple yet repetitive task.