In the confusion and chaos surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, it's easy to overlook the fundamentals of cybersecurity. With the sudden influx of virtual meetings occurring in tandem with the dramatic increase in teleworking across the United States, security has become more important than ever.
To address this issue, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published an article on preventing eavesdropping and protecting privacy on virtual meetings.
They describe a few simple options for holding a more secure virtual meeting, including:
- Following your organization's policies for virtual meeting security.
- Limiting reuse of access codes; if you've used the same code for a while, you've probably shared it with more people than you can imagine or recall.
- If the topic is sensitive, use one-time PINs or meeting identifier codes, and consider multi-factor authentication.
- Using a "green room" or "waiting room" and don't allow the meeting to begin until the host joins.
- Enabling notification when attendees join by playing a tone or announcing names. If this is not an option, make sure the meeting host asks new attendees to identify themselves.
This is not an exhaustive list, so be sure to read the full NIST story for more information.