Today your business is likely to rely on video content for many different purposes. It is very useful for marketing purposes such as reaching out to customers and explaining your products or services. You may also use it for internal purposes such as communicating between departments and employee training.
An issue you can’t afford to ignore today is that videos may contain sensitive information. With the increase in cybercrime, this information becomes vulnerable. Secure video hosting is essential for video content security. The more video content you create, the more important it becomes to keep that content secure.
What is a secure video hosting platform?
A secure video hosting platform usually has multiple security features in place. While free video hosting options are available, their security features are usually basic at best. Secure video hosting platforms usually offer security measures such as encryption and strict access controls. Enterprise video hosting platforms usually offer the most advanced security measures.
A primary goal when producing videos as a content creator or eLearning professional is to have control over your video assets so you can generate revenue from them. You need to prevent illegal copying and distribution of your content. With secure eLearning videos, you can earn money from them.
If you’re an enterprise using video for internal communications, video privacy is essential. The videos you use for purposes such as onboarding or training may contain sensitive company information. You need to protect this content throughout its life cycle to make sure that only those with permission can watch it. Whether you’re holding a virtual Town Hall, video messaging, or employees are watching training videos, ensuring your confidential company information is secure should be a priority.
The risks of unsecured video hosting
Free video hosting platforms often fall short when it comes to security. Cyber criminals operate in highly sophisticated ways and basic privacy options won’t deter them. Here are some of the risks of unsecured video hosting.
- Data breaches: Unsecured video content can lead to data breaches that expose sensitive information. The unsecured content often includes metadata and other useful information that cybercriminals can exploit. Even screen-sharing videos can reveal your business structure and the type of software you use.
- Piracy and unauthorized access: Piracy refers to the unauthorized use and distribution of copyrighted content. It can range from unauthorized copying and distribution to illegal streaming and downloading. This can lead to a substantial loss of revenue.
- Brand reputation: Security breaches can damage your brand’s reputation and trustworthiness.
- Legal and compliance issues: As a content publisher, you need to comply with data privacy regulations. If you don’t you may have to pay fines and face potential legal ramifications.
Benefits of using a secure video hosting platform
Secure video hosting has numerous benefits such as enhancing data protection, access control, and compliance. It also improves the user experience and your brand reputation.
- Enhanced data protection: A secure video platform uses various security measures such as encryption and access control to protect video content. Encrypted video streaming can ensure streaming content is only available to subscribers.
- Access control: Features such as password protection, IP restrictions, and single sign-on (SSO) give you control over who watches your video content. These measures ensure that only authorized users can upload, modify, or delete content.
- Compliance and legal safety: Secure video hosting helps you to comply with data protection regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. Achieving compliance with these regulations helps to protect users from identity theft and data breaches.
- Improved user experience: Security features enhance the user experience. They have reliable and safe access to video content.
- Brand Integrity: Protected video content helps to maintain your brand integrity and consumer trust.
Key Features to Look for in a Secure Video Hosting Platform
Some of the key features you should look for are encryption, access control, watermarks, secure embedding, and comprehensive analytics.
- Encryption: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is in use worldwide to encrypt sensitive data. Encryption is necessary across all stages of the video life cycle (end-to-end). It is a critical component of providing a safe live streaming experience.
- Access controls: User authentication, role-based access, and geo-restrictions all help to prevent unauthorized access to video content.
- Watermarking: Video watermarking is one of the video features that can deter unauthorized sharing and piracy. It adds a visible or invisible mark to video content.
- Secure embedding: Secure embedding options control where you can embed videos for users to view them.
- Detailed analytics: Comprehensive analytics help with monitoring access to videos and detecting suspicious activities.
Best Secure Video Hosting Platforms
There is often a trade-off between the price of hosting and video security. You need to find a video hosting platform that offers the best balance between the two for your specific purposes.
1. Cincopa
Cincopa is a secure video hosting platform for marketers, educators, and enterprises. It allows you to create video and image content galleries and control access to videos based on assigned user roles. End-to-end encryption offers corporate video security. Watermarking, single-sign-on (SSO), two-factor authentication, and secure embedding are some of the other security features. A CDN adds to data protection by distributing video content across multiple servers in different locations. Domain-level and geographic restrictions are easy to implement. Secured APIs offer better security than manual processes that are prone to error. Advanced analytics give you access to viewer data to inform your security processes.
2. Vimeo
Vimeo is a free online video hosting community for public and private video content. Users of the platform who want to ensure security will need to go for one of the wide ranges of subscription service plans. The Standard plan is $20 per month billed annually and it offers access to some essential data privacy features. These include password protection, two-factor authentication, private link sharing, and domain-level privacy. The plan doesn’t offer single sign-on (SSO) or custom permissions. You need to go for advanced or enterprise-level plans for more security features.
3. Kaltura
Kaltura is an open-source video platform with many customization options and integration capabilities. It offers comprehensive compliance options that benefit institutions using on-demand video for education and training. Flexible video security API allows developers to configure security settings on a per-video basis. It also offers Digital Rights Management (DRM) where videos are encrypted with unique keys for decrypting and playing videos. Kaltura also offers single-sign-on (SSO) and two-factor authentication. It certainly has attractive security benefits, particularly for educational institutions, but small businesses may find it too expensive.
Conclusion
Secure video hosting is a necessity if you want to protect your video assets against data breaches and cyber-attacks. By prioritizing security and investing in a reputable, secure video hosting platform, you can safeguard your videos and maintain a competitive edge in the market.
It’s important to evaluate the security of your current video hosting solution. You may just need to upgrade to a more secure platform. Secure video hosting platforms like Cincopa use robust security measures. If you go to the home page, you can find out more about the security measures it offers.
Start a free 30-day trial at Cincopa today and explore…