How to ensure communication security when working from home

With millions working from home for the first time thanks to coronavirus, many businesses have had to act quickly in order to facilitate remote communication which may never have been an option before the virus struck. Though these businesses may have already made the switch to internet-hosted calls and communications at work, providing access to all employees from home will not have been common. One of the most common concerns of using internet communication software is its security capacity, so how secure is it? And how can business leaders ensure the highest levels of safety for a remote workforce?

From news stories of vulnerable video conferencing software to threats from less secure home networks, navigating the security issues of a remote workforce may be a trial by fire for businesses attempting to maintain levels of normality during this time. Therefore, it will be important to understand both the benefits and drawbacks of internet communications to know what to look out for and how to inform staff of the best practice.

Video conferencing security

With words like Zoombombing becoming part of our vernacular, it’s clear that the security of video conferencing software that most businesses are turning to for meetings still poses a major issue. From unwanted visitors crashing online exercise classes to the UK government cabinet sharing a screenshot of their Zoom meeting with the entry code and password on display, our online interactions aren’t always easy to keep under wraps.

However, Zoom has recently announced further security measures to ensure all users have extra layers of protection on their meetings. These include mandatory passwords for every meeting, ensuring any business conversations happening over Zoom will be more difficult to enter. Though not all meetings involve discussing sensitive information, ensuring you are using secure technology and staying alert during all meetings is a good way of maintaining strong security practices at all times.

Ensuring VoIP security

Any phone line is vulnerable to attacks, from wiretapping on traditional phone lines to hacking attempts on internet calls. While there is a chance VoIP calls can be hacked, there are a number of built-in features that make VoIP calls practically more difficult to breach than physical phone lines. Internet-hosted calls have no established start points before they happen and this start point is gone as soon as the call ends. This, as well as the encryption of data being transmitted through the hosted IP network, makes it much more difficult to access internet call data.

In addition to these features, there are measures that businesses can take to add extra layers of security to their communications. For example, your VoIP provider may be able to include extra layers of encryption when your calls are being distributed, helping to keep them secure throughout the process. Additionally, enforce strong password requirements on all your staff, such as multi-step verification to help keep app-based systems secure while working from home on non-company devices. Regular software updates will also be crucial to maintain a secure perimeter while staff work remotely.

Benefits & drawbacks of cloud-based phone systems

The benefits of cloud-based phone systems reach beyond their capacity to enable staff to work from home with as little as an application and an internet connection. VoIP calls are also often much cheaper to make and easily scalable, meaning you can provide access to your entire company quickly, which many companies will have had to do in response to COVID-19. In addition, all business call data is hosted securely at a central location. This keeps calls secure during transit and also means no information is stored on individual devices. Individual devices, especially personal phones and computers used at home, are much more vulnerable to attack so limiting the information they store is essential.

VoIP access is usually anonymous, which often adds to security as callers from your business are more difficult to track by hackers. However, this anonymous access leaves VoIP systems open to exploitation. Most often, hackers who gain access to VoIP data centers can flood the network with DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. A DDoS attack is like a perpetual 'busy' signal which can shut networks down or put them out of use for extended periods of time. Ensuring your VoIP provider has protocols in place to prevent DDoS attacks is essential when choosing a provider to avoid productivity losses from attacks.

Additionally, home workers are typically accessing the internet through less secure networks which can be exploited by malicious actors. To avoid this pitfall, ensure all staff are aware of the security risks while working from home. This can include providing information on basic security measures like changing defaults passwords and using antivirus software.

At such a challenging time for all businesses, not following strong security practices could result in even more issues and could even result in irreparable damage to the business. VoIP telephony offers a huge amount of opportunity for businesses adjusting to a new working environment but businesses should be fully aware of the risks involved and take steps to mitigate them to keep their data secure.

Image credit: Rido / Shutterstock

This article was written by Damon Culbert from Criterion Systems, hosted IP telephony provider in the UK.