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Videocalls became much more widespread after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and they continue to be a popular alternative to face-to-face meetings. Both platforms and users soon got over the teething problems, and learned to take basic security measures when hosting videoconferences. That said, many online participants still feel uncomfortable knowing that they might be recorded and eavesdropped on all the time. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. recently had to offer explanations regarding its new privacy policy, which states that all Zoom videoconferencing users give the company the right to use any of their conference data (voice recordings, video, transcriptions) for AI training. Microsoft Teams users in many organizations are well aware that turning on recording means activating transcription as well, and that AI will even send premium subscribers a recap. For those out there who discuss secrets on videocalls (for instance in the telemedicine industry), or simply have little love for Big Tech Brother, there are less known but far more private conferencing tools available.

What can we protect ourselves against?

Let’s make one thing clear: following the tips below isn’t going to protect you from targeted espionage, a participant secretly recording a call, pranks, or uninvited guests joining by using leaked links. We already provided some videoconferencing security tips that can help mitigate those risks. Protecting every participant’s computer and smartphone with comprehensive cybersecurity — such as Kaspersky Premium — is equally important.

Here, we focus on other kinds of threats such as data leaks from the videoconferencing platform, misuse of call data by the platform, and the harvesting of biometric information or conference content. There are two possible engineering solutions to these: (i) hosting the conference entirely on participant computers and servers, or (ii) encrypting it, so that even the host servers have no access to the meeting content. The latter option is known as end-to-end encryption, or E2EE.

Signal: a basic tool for smaller group calls

We have repeatedly described Signal as one of the most secure private instant messaging apps around, but Signal calls are protected with E2EE as well. To host a call, you have to set up a chat group, add everyone you want to call, and tap the videocall button. Group videocalls are limited to 40 participants. Admittedly, you’re not getting any business conveniences such as call recording, screen sharing, or corporate contact-list invitations. Besides, you’ll need to set up a separate group for each meeting, which works well for regular calls with the same people, but not so much if the participants change every time.

Signal lets you set up videoconferences for up to 40 participants in a familiar interface

WhatsApp and Facetime: just as easy — but not without their issues

Both these apps are user-friendly and popular, and both support E2EE for videocalls. They share all the shortcomings of Signal, adding a couple of their own: WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which is a privacy red flag for many, while Facetime calls are only available to Apple users.

Jitsi Meet: self-hosted private videoconferencing

The Jitsi platform is a good choice for large-scale, fully featured, but still private meetings. It can be used for hosting meetings with: dozens to hundreds of participants, screen sharing, chatting and polling, co-editing notes, and more. Jitsi Meet supports E2EE, and the conference itself is created at the moment the first participant joins and self-destructs when the last one disconnects. No chats, polls or any other conference content is logged. Finally, Jitsi Meet is an open-source app.

Jitsi Meet is a user-friendly, cross-platform videoconferencing tool with collaboration options. It can be self-hosted or used for free on the developer’s website

Though the public version can be used for free on the Jitsi Meet website, the developers strongly recommend that organizations deploy a Jitsi server of their own. Paid hosting by Jitsi and major hosting providers is available for those who’d rather avoid spinning up a server.

Matrix and Element: every type of communication — fully encrypted

The Matrix open protocol for encrypted real-time communication and the applications it powers — such as Element — are a fairly powerful system that supports one-on-one chats, private groups and large public discussion channels. The Matrix look-and-feel resembles Discord, Slack and their forerunner, IRC, more than anything else.

Connecting to a Matrix public server is a lot like getting a new email address: you select a user name, register it with one of the available servers, and receive a matrix address formatted as @user:server.name. That allows you to talk freely to other users including those registered with different servers.

Even a public server makes it easy to set up an invitation-only private space with topic-based chats and videocalls.

The settings in Element are slightly more complex, but you get more personalization options: chat visibility, permission levels, and so on. Matrix/Element makes sense if you’re after team communications in various formats, such as chats or calls, and on various topics rather than just a couple of odd calls. If you’re simply looking to host a call from time to time, Jitsi works better — the call feature in Element even uses Jitsi code.

Element is a fully featured environment for private conversations, with video chats just one of the available options

Corporations are advised to use the Element enterprise edition, which offers advanced management tools and full support.

Zoom: encryption for the rich

Few know that Zoom, the dominant videoconferencing service, has an E2EE option too. But to enable this feature, you need to additionally purchase the Large Meetings License, which lets you host 500 or 1000 participants for $600–$1080 a year. That makes the price of E2EE at least $50 per month higher than the regular subscription fee.

Zoom supports videoconferencing with E2EE too, but you need an extended license to be able to use it

You can enable encryption for smaller meetings as well, but still only if you have a Large Meeting License. According to the Zoom website, activating E2EE for a meeting disables most familiar features, such as cloud recording, dial-in, polling and others.

#Top #apps #encrypted #private #videocalls

Previous posts in our back-to-school series have covered how to protect your child’s devices and explain the importance of cybersecurity in school. Today we talk about the core, and often unavoidable, apps used in modern education. This means electronic diaries and virtual classrooms, plus videoconferencing for distance learning. They are all insecure.

Electronic diaries

Electronic study-diaries and virtual classroom websites are used these days to help administer the educational process. Educators use them to share lesson schedules, homework assignments, and announcements. And parents can see their kids’ grades, or even chat with their teachers.

The main problem with such web applications is the substandard protection of personal data that’s provided. In 2020, the attorney general of the U.S. state of New Mexico even filed a lawsuit against Google Classroom, citing the company’s alleged practice of collecting personal data from children and using it for commercial purposes. And in 2022, the Dutch Ministry of Education introduced a number of restrictions on the use of Google services in schools for the exact same reason.

Unfortunately, in most cases parents have no control over what services schools decide to use. The story of Google Classroom is by no means the worst. Issues with the service have been openly discussed for a long time, and Google has been forced to take note and beef up its protection. But, as a father of three, I’ve had the (mis)fortune of seeing other electronic diaries in action, where the situation with personal data storage and transfer is nothing if not murky.

What can parents do about this? Asking the school for all details about privacy and personal data usage in all services you need is a good start. And teach your kid how to leave as little personal data as possible on such sites.

Videoconferencing

The covid lockdown was a big eye-opener for many kids: turns out you don’t need to go to school! Lessons suddenly became more fun but for the wrong reasons: my daughter chats with her teacher in one window — and watches a movie or plays a game in another (or on a different device).

Such distance “learning” only adds to the worries of parents. Even before covid, we had to monitor what our kids were downloading, since banking Trojans, spyware and ransomware are forever sneaking in under the guise of legal apps — even in Google Play and other official stores. But at least in school they were less exposed to such threats, because internet usage was not generally a part of in-class learning.

With the distance-learning revolution, however, there are now even more apps on our kids’ tablets for us parents to fret about, as well as unlimited internet use for “study” purposes.

And although the lockdowns are long over, many schools continue to practice distance learning for some classes. Meanwhile, Zoom, Teams, and other videoconferencing platforms remain vulnerable to attacks. The most obvious consequence of such attacks, as before, is personal data leakage. But it can get worse: if a malicious third party were to gain access to a virtual classroom, they might show some decidedly “non-kid-suitable” videos.

And even if parents are versed in the safe hosting of video chats, they are unlikely to be able to influence the school’s choice of tools. Here, too, you should ask the school for an explanation as to why an insecure program was chosen.

In addition, you need to teach your kids the basic safety rules of using such apps. In particular, your child should learn to turn off both the microphone and camera when not required, as well as to blur the background and disable screen-sharing by default. And of course, your child should never accept video chat invitations from strangers — or communicate with any if they do show up uninvited to a video conference.

And it goes without saying that all devices your child uses should be protected with a reliable security solution — one that guards against viruses and personal data leaks on computers and mobile devices, and keeps your kid’s privacy intact. Remember that with your free annual subscription to Kaspersky Safe Kids as part of Kaspersky Premium, in addition to total protection for all devices, you get powerful parental controls over your child’s online activity and offline location.

#Backtoschool #threats #virtual #classrooms #videoconferencing

Tag: Zoom

Top apps for encrypted, private videocalls