Security breaches in the digital world have been dominating headlines in 2018 as various systems have been plagued with ransom ware or have been infiltrated by wily hackers. That is why it is essential to have a digital signage software provider that has prioritized their digital security plan to ensure their clients never come under attack. You want your digital signage network security to be top of the range so no unwanted content can ever disrupt your feed.
Digital signage security requires a multi-layered approach that looks at physical access, network application, connectivity and maintenance as well as proprietary versus open source software. All of these elements are vital in providing a a hacker-resistant solution to customers.
Physical Security of Hardware
Your digital signage hardware is most vulnerable to a security issue when it is placed in a public place. Your biggest security threat is likely to come from someone who could walk up to your player, unplug it and replace it with their own player that could then cause havoc with your content and system. You want to restrict physical access to your networks devices by keeping hardware such as TV, mounts and media players secured and locked. Your screens should be secured to the wall and you need to make sure your screws and bolts are extremely difficult to access and remove on site.
Media Players should be housed in a break-proof enclosure and out of sight. This is not only for security but also for aesthetics. All ports and connection of the media player must be secured. We advise password protecting your BIOS for further protection as this prevents the boot order from ever being changed. Aurora is hardware agnostic which means our clients can select their choice of proper hardware for the project without any restrictions.
Aurora Application Security Measures
Your digital signage application is the function that manages playback and reporting of your media player and it must be secured. Your data is vulnerable when it travels over a network as it can be intercepted if you have not put the necessary security measures in place. You might have restricted physical access to your media player but you could be at risk from third-party applications that have not placed high standards on their security standards. Our Aurora software application uses a silo approach and multi-key encryption for every user, network and panel I.D. This enables a stand-alone environment so one computer is not capable of negatively impacting another computer. These encryption capabilities make sure that if a hacker infiltrates the system the information will be useless to them.
Network and Connectivity
Aurora is agnostic about the way you connect to the media player. We can run on-network or off-network. The application can also be powered over cellular to allow end users to have options when it comes to network security. Our software uses extremely little bandwidth and can often run on existing back-up failover cellular lines.
Proprietary vs Open-Source
Our product is also proprietary software vs open source – so our customers are getting a useable product, with a support team that also creates the software. This gives enterprise level customers a stronger sense of security as well.
How The IoT Amplifies Security Risks
You do not want to give hackers any chance to slip in through a back door over your network and put up questionable content or, for example, change information on a digital signage menu board that could negatively impact your businesses’ finances. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), the security risks are going to intensify as billions of devices will be connected to each other. These networked systems are going to “talk” to each other and you don’t want key financial or operating information being tampered with causing irreparable damage to your business.
Locking Side Doors
These day’s digital signage does not run on a separate internet connection as it often relies on data from other systems within the company to function optimally. In the case of a digital menu board, it will remove items that have sold out when it receives data from the inventory section of the quick service restaurant that the stock is finished. This link between a digital signage menu board and the inventory/scheduling system could create a side-door into the entire business operation for a hacker. Every single point needs to be secured to avoid a worst case scenario of a hacker controlling your inventory and pricing.
Getting Secure
There are companies still using weak passwords and out-of-date operating software and they are playing with fire. It is time to understand that security policies around digital signage software is critical to your business as a whole. You need to treat digital signage in the same way as you would go about securing your mission-critical systems. Let us help you with a security audit of your current system. We walk you through your software options that will secure your company from hackers infiltrating from your digital signage media players.
Contact us today for additional information.
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