How BenQ’s Windows Smart Projector Extends Your Organizations Data Security

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.

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.

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 unauthorized 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 unauthorized data files.

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.