Use your cam, but don't get scammed
Published on
09 May 2020
Published by
The Straits Times
If you use video conferencing, you are vulnerable to cyber attacks. Here are tips to keep your sessions and devices safe
Now that most of us are working from home and have stopped travelling, we are keeping in touch with colleagues, customers, business partners, suppliers, relatives and friends through technologies such as text chat, file sharing, and audio and video conferencing.
In particular, video-based collaboration has come to the fore. There are a slew of apps for this, including Zoom and FaceTime, which make use of our laptops' webcams and our smartphones' cameras.
Apple's FaceTime for Mac - which is free if the person you are calling has an Apple device supporting FaceTime - is convenient, but Mac users are now at higher risk than ever before.
According to United States-based security firm Malwarebytes, malware threats on Macs increased 400 per cent from 2018 to last year.
Furthermore, the firm said the number of threats detected per Mac has surpassed that of the Windows platform "by a great deal" - likely because the increasing market share of Macs last year has made them more attractive to cyber criminals.
In any case, if you are often on video-conference calls, you are at risk. So, how do you keep your video collaboration sessions, devices and yourself safe from being hacked? Here are four tips.
1 KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
Banks usually enforce know-your-customer, or KYC, processes when you open an account with them or are carrying out an unusual transaction.
For example, a bank may use the details in your NRIC, as well as carry out facial recognition via a video call that links your image signature and voice to the NRIC. This is to prevent money laundering by criminal elements.
Procedures related to KYC also enable banks to better understand your financial dealings and help you manage your risks prudently.
You can also apply KYC to your web chats or webinars. Ensure only your clients, customers, relatives or people whom you have approved can log in. You can do this by either sending specific invites or blocking those you think have "jumped on the call" during the webinar.
Jumping on the call happens not only with hackers. It can also occur if someone you invited has forwarded your invite to their friends. On most platforms, including some free ones, you can invite specific people and block those whose credentials are suspect.
2 SHUTTER YOUR CAM
Most smartphones, tablets and laptops and some smart television sets have front-facing cameras or webcams. Ensure you have a webcam shutter or use masking tape to cover both the front and back cameras of your devices when you are not using them.
This is because hackers can remotely activate your cameras without your knowledge - when your laptop or phone has been hacked and the tiny camera light will not be switched on.
It is why Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey both put tape over their computers' cameras when the devices are not in use.
In July last year, a webcam vulnerability affecting Mac users of the Zoom video-conferencing software was found - and later patched - after an automatic system update left the camera open to spying.
3 USE 2FA
Bank transactions require two-factor authentication (2FA), which can be done by a bank-issued token, or via an SMS or app on your smartphone.
Ideally, you should set up 2FA for your e-mails as well, in order to safeguard against hackers being able to start your webcast, webinar or conference calls.
The link to start these events is set in your e-mail calendar, which can be launched only after you log in via 2FA. This offers an added layer of security. To learn how to enable 2FA for Gmail, watch this video: youtu.be/jZWuZ6Urj7k
4 TRY OPEN-SOURCE VIDEO CONFERENCING
There are a handful of open-source video-conferencing tools out there that offer excellent video chat, collaboration and document-sharing capabilities with security and encryption.
Three to check out are Jitsi Meet, Riot and BigBlueButton.
Jitsi is a collection of free and open-source applications. It works on Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS and Android devices.
Its video-conferencing tool is called Jitsi Meet, a fully encrypted open-source solution.
You don't need to have an account with Jitsi to use it. You can share your desktop and presentations as well as trade messages and emojis. For more details, check out: jitsi.org/jitsi-meet
Riot is based on the Matrix open-source platform, so all files and data transferred via Riot are secured with Matrix's end-to-end encryption.
You can conduct voice and video conferencing, share files, and set notifications and project reminders in dedicated "rooms" organised by topic, team, event and more. You can run Riot on the Chrome and Firefox browsers or via desktop apps on Mac and Windows. Check it out at: about.riot.im
BigBlueButton is an open source web-conferencing system that is ideal for educational environments.
It supports multiple audio and video sharing, presentations, whiteboard capabilities (such as pointer, zooming and drawing), public and private chat, and desktop sharing. Users may enter the conference either as viewers or as a moderator who can upload slides and control the presentation. Check it out at: bigbluebutton.org
Raju Chellam is the author of Organ Gold, published by the Straits Times Press, on the illegal trade in human organs on the Dark Web.
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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