Security News > 2020 > March > NIST, DHS Publish Guidance on Securing Virtual Meetings, VPNs
With people worldwide forced to work from home due to the coronavirus epidemic, NIST and DHS published a series of recommendations on how to ensure that virtual meetings and connections to enterprise networks are protected from prying eyes.
The security of virtual meetings might often be an afterthought, but basic precautions can ensure that they don't lead to data breaches or other security incidents, says Jeff Greene, director of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Most virtual meeting services have built-in security features, but following an organization's policies for virtual meeting security should ensure strong protection.
He also underlines that, when sharing highly sensitive information, additional steps should be considered, such as the use of approved virtual meeting services only and of unique PINs or passwords for each attendee, a dashboard feature, locking the call once all attendees are online, encrypting recordings, and conducting web meetings on organization-issued devices only.
"This list is not all-encompassing, nor must you use every tool for every virtual meeting. Know your organization's policies, think about the sensitivity of the topics to be discussed, factor in the logistics of the meeting, and pick the measures that make sense for each situation," Greene notes.