[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]The latest ransomware/datacentre hack to unfold globally is still fresh on peoples’ minds. Not only was Britain’s biggest institution, the NHS, severely affected, but other global corporate organisations, such as FedEx and Telefonica were also hit.
This understandably creates fear and concern for IT teams, especially within the NHS where disruption in service can cost lives, whether that be for storage, video communications, or any other IT & business application.
As cloud conferencing can technically enable anyone, on any device, to communicate across the public internet, it isn’t surprising that IT teams are worried about the safety and security of their internal comms systems; especially when some departments ‘go rogue’ and use unsecured, unregulated platforms!
What can IT teams do to ensure that their business systems remain secure? Should they ban cloud conferencing and invest in on-premise infrastructure? In short, no. Although on-prem infrastructure seems like a logical step, most security breaches are caused by internal employees letting their guard down (we all know someone who’s clicked that link).
Savvy IT teams are choosing to procure a cloud-based conferencing platform that is not only more secure than their prior on-prem infrastructure, but also future-proofed against the evolving threat of cyber-crime. Our platform, medio.link, has a dedicated team making certain up-to-date virus protection and security patches, round-the-clock monitoring and pro-active intervention to ensure the service always remains on. During the recent hacks, our N3 hosted medio.link platform was monitored, protected and remained available throughout. This meant that teams could respond and strategize their plans to ‘unlock’ machines using our collaboration platform.
Personally, the most exciting part of this wasn’t that the platform stayed online, but the ways in which different teams could collaborate together. Team members who had already left for the weekend could join via video from their smart phones, whilst those left in the trust chose a multitude of devices; the Skype for Business client from the desktop, the Polycom unit in the MDT suite, even the trusty telephone dial-in from the person on the road.
A recent study from IDC Research stated that using a cloud conferencing provider results in ‘end users benefiting from fewer service disruptions and quicker recovery, reduced downtime by an average of 72% and a saving of approximately £23k per annum on infrastructure alone.’
So what makes the medio.link platform so secure?
Firstly, medio.link runs on a hardened version of Linux operating system and the common ransomware (like the infamous WannaCry variant that crippled thousands computers in May) targets Windows machines. There were very few cases of ransomware targeting computers running Linux.
Secondly, medio.link platform is fully virtualized which allows for fast data restoration. Any part of medio.link can be wiped out and restored within minutes.
Lastly, the platform was designed with security in mind and divided into 2 parts: external (public Internet) and internal NHS. External participants (and attackers) cannot reach conferencing servers on the NHS side. Therefore, in case of any targeted attack, the public side may get compromised but the vital NHS service should stay fully functional.
If you’d like to see our medio.link platform in action, click here to arrange a demonstration or a free trial.
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