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	Linktivity WebDemo

Security

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Linktivity WebDemo provides several methods to secure online meetings. They are described in the vendor's online documentation about meeting security. The minimum authentication and encryption requirements for web conferencing tools are explained and discussed in the Security article of Chapter 8 of this Guide.

Review Overview
This review discusses the following aspects of the security features within Linktivity WebDemo:

Authenticating the meeting host and participants

Limiting meeting access

Enabling CAST-128 encryption

Implementing an SSL certificate

Conclusion

Authenticating the Meeting Host and Participants
Before creating or joining a web conference the meeting host needs to sign in to the WebDemo server with a username and password. If a password was assigned to a meeting, the meeting host needs to enter that password as well. Participants usually join meetings after receiving an email invitation containing a personalized, encoded url. This authentication method allows participants to immediately join the meeting without having to provide their credentials (email address and meeting password). Participants only need to identify themselves into a meeting with a so-called handle, usually their name or nickname.

Limiting Meeting Access
There are several ways in which a meeting host may limit access to a meeting:

by changing the default meeting status from Public to Private. This is done by editing the meeting details on the meeting host's My Office page. Public meetings are open to anyone. Private meetings are accessible only through an email invitation. The email invitation contains a Join Session url that allows participants to enter into a meeting. See the review of WebDemo's Event Management facility in the Guide for a detailed description of the options available on the My Office page in WebDemo.

setting a meeting password. Meeting passwords are set by editing the meeting details on the meeting host's My Office page.

closing the door to the meeting room once the conference has started. This functionality is available as a host control at the bottom of the host control panel.

Closing the door to the meeting room

Enabling CAST-128 Encryption
All data exchanged in private WebDemo meetings is automatically encrypted using a dynamic, 128-bit encryption algorithm called CAST-128.
Data exchanged in public WebDemo meetings can be encrypted by clicking on the Encrypt This Session button in the bottom toolbar on the host control panel. Sessions are encrypted if a closed pad lock icon is displayed.

All data in this session is securely encrypted

CAST-128 was invented in the '90s by Carlisle Adams and Stafford Tavares as a better alternative to the more widely known DES encryption method. CAST-128 is patented by Entrust but available without charge. It is generally considered a very safe and efficient encryption method: safe because the size of the encryption key (a so-called block cipher) varies between 40-bit and 128-bit, and because 16 rounds of encryption are used. It is an efficient method because the same key is used both for encryption and decryption, which reduces the size of the encryption code to 50%.

Implementing an SSL Certificate
Corporations requiring an even higher level of privacy, security and authentication should consider implementing an SSL certificate on their on-premise WebDemo server. SSL (= Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that allows clients to authenticate a remote web server and that encrypts all communication with that server. An SSL-enabled web server url starts with the letters HTTPS. SSL was developed by Netscape Communications Corp and is widely used for e-commerce purposes.

Conclusion
In Linktivity WebDemo a cascade of encryption methods ensures that all communication between server and client is sufficiently secured.

To see how the security option in Linktivity WebDemo compares to the one offered by other tools reviewed in the Guide, consult the Security Comparison Table.

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Posted on June 20, 2003 at 10:24 PM

Updated on December 19, 2004 at 05:14 PM

Overview

Key Strengths

Weak Points

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Presence Awareness

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Audio Conferencing - VoIP