AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Security Through Obscurity

Recorded December 3, 2021

Are your AV devices secure? Probably not. Is your campus network secure? Fingers crossed!

We start with some recent non-AV news about campus network security and ransomware that forced two entire community colleges to simply close temporarily.

Then we discuss the current state of AV network security. How many devices do we all have out there on the network running firmware from years ago? Has that firmware been through a security audit recently? Or ever? Of course not! AV manufacturers have a bit of a cultural problem when it comes to security in that it often seems to be an afterthought-- even for native AVoIP devices or gear that requires a network connection to function.

Finally, we commiserate about campus clients who want to second-guess project estimates. Over the last two years, everyone has gotten used to "good enough AV” experiences while teaching, learning, and working from home, but is that really good enough for a university learning space? Also, we just bought this TV at Best Buy. Can you just install that for us real quick?

Article discussed:

• https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/11/30/butler-county-lewis-and-clark-community-colleges-hacked