Secure by design videoconferencing products may be vital for customer trust and operational resilience, but if they aren't usable, organizations are on a hiding to nothing. Videoconferencing security is no longer a routine item on the IT checklist. Organizations now rate security as their most important purchase criterion (31 percent) when selecting such products, ahead of price (26 percent) and quality (25 percent), according to IDC. The implication, is that security and privacy are no longer optional. Instead, they are the foundation of effective meeting room solutions, enabling safe and unified collaboration. Yannic Laleeuwe, marketing director for Barco's ClickShare, agrees. Collaboration and videoconferencing solutions have become "mission-critical business systems" in her view, because they process significant volumes of the most sensitive corporate information while sitting on crucial networks and cloud services. "Historical security incidents, combined with the rapid growth of hybrid work since the COVID-19 pandemic, have demonstrated that weaknesses in these platforms can lead to data breaches, operational disruption, regulatory exposure, and loss of customer trust," Laleeuwe explains. "Consequently, security has evolved from a technical consideration to a strategic procurement and governance priority for organizations worldwide." The IDC study indicates that most businesses' biggest security concern is exposure to cyberattackers, which can lead to incidents such as malware propagation (47 percent). Next on the list is devices falling out of compliance because of missing patches and updates (39 percent). Third comes risky employee behavior, which can result in inadvertent, or even deliberate, data exposure (37 percent). These issues become particularly problematic in a hybrid working environment, where meeting rooms have evolved into highly connected, distributed spaces. Employees now expect ready access to business applications, data, and collaboration tools wherever they happen to be working. An expanding attack surface Such demands expand the potential attack surface for meeting room technology. Users, devices, cloud services, home networks, and collaboration platforms all become endpoints on the corporate network, even though many were never designed to operate in an enterprise IT context. That leaves them as potential entry points for attackers. "Collaboration solutions are particularly attractive targets because they are connected to corporate systems and frequently process sensitive information, including intellectual property, strategic discussions, and customer data," Laleeuwe points out. The situation grows worse when IT management becomes too decentralized. "As organizations adopt hybrid working and distributed IT models, maintaining centralized visibility and governance becomes increasingly challenging as local teams may implement different technologies, configurations, and processes," Laleeuwe adds. She acknowledges that certain operational responsibilities can, and should, be handled locally to support business agility and regional requirements. But complete decentralization often leads to inconsistent security controls, fragmented risk management, and reduced ability to detect and respond to cyber threats across the enterprise, she warns. Mounting global regulatory pressure On top of that, international regulatory pressure on both security and security technology is producing an increasingly complex legislative landscape, because policymakers and industry bodies now recognize that cyber incidents can threaten critical services, national security, and even economic stability. In Europe alone, legislators have introduced a raft of legal frameworks, including the European Union's Network and Information Security 2 Directive, which mandates strict risk management and incident reporting for medium-to-large organizations across 18 critical sectors. Other legislation, such as the Radio Equipment Delegated Act, is intended to secure wireless equipment against cyberattackers. Another, the Cyber Resilience Act, provides safeguards for businesses and consumers when purchasing any hardware or software products connected to a network. Global standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 now define best practice for information security and risk management, and offer organizations a framework for operational trust. In other words, organizations must now embed security considerations across all their key activities, which include governance, risk management, supply-chain management, and incident response. They also need to make certain that their technology providers integrate security across the entire lifecycle of their products and services, from design and development through deployment and end-of-life support. Non-compliant collaboration and videoconferencing technology no longer simply poses an organizational risk. It may also prove unusable. Security as a pre-requisite for doing business The upshot, Laleeuwe says, is that cybersecurity has evolved from a "voluntary best practice into a legal and business obligation, making security a prerequisite for market access, customer trust, operational resilience, and long-term competitiveness." Even so, compliance and strong security enablement cannot be allowed to come at the expense of usability, particularly in a hybrid workplace. If collaboration tools are perceived as too complex or restrictive, employees will find workarounds, and the organizational security risks rise rather than fall. To tackle the problem, IT teams must weigh several factors. From a people perspective, the biggest challenge is behavioral. "Users naturally seek convenience, so continuous security awareness, training, and a strong security culture are essential to encourage secure behavior without hindering productivity," Laleeuwe explains. Clear, transparent, and well-defined processes matter just as much, because they ensure security and compliance requirements are consistently understood and implemented across the organization. Why secure by design matters From a technology perspective, the focus must move away from perimeter-based security towards a zero-trust approach in which every user, device, and connection is continuously verified and protected. In product design terms, it is just as crucial that meeting room technology rests on secure-by-design principles, so that compliant, state of the art security controls are integrated into systems from the outset rather than bolted on as an afterthought. As Laleeuwe says: "Security by design reduces the likelihood and impact of vulnerabilities, simplifies compliance with emerging cybersecurity regulations, and strengthens customer trust. It also lowers the overall cost of ownership because identifying and resolving security issues during design and development is significantly more efficient and less costly than remediating incidents, recalls, or security breaches after deployment." Barco's ClickShare wireless video conferencing, presentation, and collaboration solution is a classic example of this approach. Barco developed it from the ground up using secure architecture design and coding. It also includes proactive vulnerability management that continuously monitors newly disclosed vulnerabilities and issues risk-based security updates. That process cuts the system's exposure to both known and evolving threats. Automatic deployment of those security updates simplifies maintenance and helps organizations consistently protect large fleets of devices. Users can focus on the task in hand rather than managing the technology or calling in specialist cybersecurity experts when things go wrong. "The advantage is that security is handled largely in the background, reducing the risk of human error, improving adoption, and allowing people to concentrate on productive collaboration rather than system administration," Laleeuwe points out. "So, ClickShare provides effective protection while minimizing friction for end users." A changing security landscape That matters, she says, because compliance is now a shared responsibility that spans organizations, their technology providers, integrators, and increasingly the broader supplier ecosystem. Organizations, for instance, must hold themselves accountable for securely operating and governing their own environments, even if doing so requires a change in focus. As Laleeuwe explains: "The implication for IT departments is that they must evolve from being solely operational service providers to becoming governance and coordination functions that establish common security standards, policies, monitoring, and oversight across the organization." Technology providers, in contrast, are responsible for delivering and maintaining secure products throughout their lifecycle. They also have a critical part in monitoring vulnerabilities in their platform's software components, providing timely security patches, and transparently notifying customers and downstream partners about relevant security risks. Integrators, lastly, are responsible for deploying and configuring solutions in line with current security and compliance requirements and guidance. "No single party has complete control over the entire technology stack, making supply-chain security and collaboration essential for maintaining a secure and compliant environment," Laleeuwe says. "The most effective approach is therefore a clear allocation of responsibilities across all parties, supported by transparent communication, vulnerability disclosure, and coordinated risk management." Another element of security success is aligning organizational measures such as clear accountability, security awareness, and shared ownership of cybersecurity with technology that provides centralized visibility into assets, vulnerabilities, compliance, and security events. As Laleeuwe concludes: "This consolidated view enables organizations to better understand, measure, and manage risk across the entire enterprise while maintaining the flexibility needed by local teams. The most effective approach balances local operational autonomy with centralized governance, ensuring consistent security, compliance, and strategic control without compromising business efficiency." Sponsored by Barco.
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