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How BenQ’s Windows Smart Projector Extends Your Organisations Data Security
- BenQ
- 2022-07-06
Due to the way in which it has made the concept of the workplace far more versatile, the emergence of hybrid work and hybrid meetings has been incredibly beneficial to organisations across the spectrum. But as companies continue to adapt themselves to a trend that relies so much on a labyrinth of connections, they must realise that each link in the chain - from BYOD equipment to wireless presentation systems and cloud storage accounts - offers ever increasing security risks which they must safeguard themselves against. Only by building a secure hybrid work ecosystem can organisations disrupt and prevent the risky activities that result from unsupervised and thus unpredictable hybrid workplace behavior which might lead to confidential data falling into the hands of hackers, such as unofficial access point connections and unauthorised point-to-point transmission.
Vulnerabilities in a Hybrid Workplace
Whereas larger organisations and their IT departments have been able to construct and maintain secure workplaces in the pre-hybrid world, the hybrid world has introduced a lot more unpredictability into their work. While some of the vulnerabilities that result may be obvious to some, it’s still incumbent on these organizations that they remain cognizant of each and every soft spot so that they can address them before any damage happens.
- Wireless Transmissions
The most obvious vulnerability in the hybrid ecosystem is in the multitude of wireless transmissions involved in its working. With remote work and the use of BYOD equipment, each and every individual connection that is necessary to keep the hybrid workplace going (just think of how many SSIDs are involved in a typical hybrid meeting) becomes a possible location that hackers can identify and then breach to retrieve confidential data.
- Equipment Theft
An easily overlooked weak spot within a hybrid workspace organization is its physical workspace. With a segment of their employees opting out of the traditional commute and the vacancy within the office that these choices cause, companies might lack the formal and informal supervision of their physical hardware that they previously had. Furthermore, the sudden fluctuation of the personnel clocking in and out of the office makes said supervision even harder. Each of these vulnerabilities creates an opening for the outright theft of vital equipment that could then be physically and continually accessed off-site by hackers.
- Account Access
With a large chunk of hybrid meetings relying on cloud access for file transfers, companies are introduced to another level of risk, as BYOD staff have a tendency to casually switch between personal and company accounts. This use of personal accounts, with their lack of IT managed password controls, again increases the risk of hacking and identity theft.
The EH620: A Wintel Smart Projector that Addresses All Your Security Concerns
As the nexus point where staff members situated in various locations link up and collaborate, the conference room plays a crucial role in a hybrid workspace, and for many organizations the hub that conference room activities revolve around is the projector. Because of this, the security concerns described above apply equally to this vital piece of equipment and the connections that are made with it. As a solution to address such concerns BenQ has designed the EH620, a Wintel Smart Projector that leverages the power of the Windows platform to protect against the vulnerabilities that arise from video systems with varied forms of connections.
How the EH620 Addresses Wireless Transmission Concerns
To ensure that its wireless transmissions are secure, the EH620 features WPA2-Enterprise wireless security to protect all of its Wi-Fi traffic. By using completely unique and encrypted keys for every individual client in the network, the WPA2 protocol blocks hackers from locating and accessing the data transmitted by each client. To complement the use of WPA2, the EH620 also features AES-128 data encryption which uses a 128-bit key length (16 bytes) to encrypt message blocks so that they that are nearly impossible to break. This then provides added protection since with AES-128 encryption hackers that are able to get pass the WPA2 safeguards will still be unable to decipher the actual content of the transmitted data.
How the EH620 Addresses Vulnerabilities Due to Equipment Theft
With the Windows operating system embedded into the EH620, users are able to rely on the full power of the Microsoft platform including its security features such as BitLocker which helps block access to files by unauthorised users. BitLocker is an encryption technology developed by Microsoft that when enabled allows organizations to essentially bind the respective device’s (in this case the projector) hard drive, as well as designated storage devices (such as USB flash drives and external hard drives), to the system itself so that removing or disconnecting these drives from the device shuts off access so that the data within cannot be viewed, edited, or copied by another system. For the EH620, this layer of protection is further enhanced by the fact that the internal storage for the projector is located on an eMMC chip embedded into the projector’s mainboard, meaning that even before BitLocker comes into play, hackers will already have an incredibly tough time separating the internal storage from the projector, making physical access to the data nearly impossible. Another feature of the Windows’ operating system that helps safeguard against intrusions as a result of physical theft is the Secure Boot feature of Windows’ Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Secure Boot protects the projector by only allowing software specifically designated by its manufacturer (BenQ) from running during the boot up process. This measure then prevents hackers from being able to wipe the operating system from the hardware, switch to a different operating system with a new user account, and installing malware or embedding unauthorised data files.
How the EH620 Addresses Account Access Concerns
One of the aspects of Windows’ security features that is most familiar to businesses is its user account capabilities. For equipment such as a conference room projector, where daily use might be split between multiple users, Windows’ use of individual login accounts helps safeguard data by isolating the level of access for each user. This prevents user A from viewing any of user B’s data or files and vice versa. This type of protection is even extended into the realm of Microsoft’s cloud storage accounts, so that accessing files stored in Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage via the Edge browser also requires a login process, further reinforcing the protective barriers between users.
Choosing the Right BenQ Projector
As detailed above BenQ’s EH620 includes a full suite of Windows-based security features that makes it ideal for corporate users and large organizations. But not all hybrid workplaces need such a robust system, let alone a Wintel projector, as their PC-less projector. This points to the idea that in the end companies should base their purchasing decision on what fits them. To that end, BenQ’s line of projectors includes PC-less models that suit all types of businesses. For small to mid-sized business the EH600 is a savvy projector with enough security features to satisfy their needs. For large businesses to corporations where network use gets a bit more complicated and security concerns are a bit more heightened though, user data needs a further level of encryption, so the EH620 is still the most suitable model for all the reasons described above.
