2020 and 2021 have seen an exponential increase in remote production with almost all productions using it in some form and it is here to stay. Alongside the obvious support for social distancing, it provides many, many other advantages for example: decreases in cost, better environmental footprint, improved working environment and better work-life balance for employees and freelancers alike.
Remote production is a broad phrase and can refer to lots of different implementations. On one end of the spectrum, there are basic remote-desktop sessions being implemented, all the way to the other end, where large 10Gbit/s fibre-optic links with complete satellite backup bring back 100s of video feeds to purpose-built facilities. Each of these set-ups have their own pros and cons but they all have one thing in common, they puncture a giant hole in the broadcaster’s previous understanding of network security.
To date broadcasters have largely been immune to broadcast security issues. This isn’t to say they don’t exist and it’s not to say there aren’t imminent threats out there. But if we compare ourselves to our colleagues in fintech or telecoms many would say we’ve got away lightly from potentially catastrophic security breaches.
Why’s this? Well, there are a variety of theories but one of the strongest is that to date we’ve always been able to physically protect our systems from the outside world. Broadcasters have been able to lock their systems in known buildings and provide a single fortified gate or firewall, as the networks team refer to them. If you’re on the inside you don’t need to worry about power, cooling, hardware, software, but not security, you’ve got a big fence to protect you from all those hackers outside.
The challenge that remote production brings is the flattening of this fence, multiple people, from multiple different organisations needing to connect systems with multiple different requirements. Chaos! Trying to continue relying on perimeter security would be akin to trying to direct traffic on Spaghetti Junction with a flashlight.
So, what can be done? Remote production gives too many advantages for it to be ditched post-Covid and we know that there is an increasing number of threats to broadcast security, so we need to find a solution. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this and all of us in broadcast will now need to maintain a much more nuanced approach to security.
As well as being disciplined about the obvious protections of secure passwords and authenticated access, broadcasters must now implement stringent monitoring practices. This is because hackers rarely commit an unplanned exercise. Before causing any damage they will peek inside, try their luck, see what’s protected and what’s not protected. It’s during this time that if you’re there and you’re watching you can get some early warning signs that you need to investigate. Watch for anomalies in your set-up, watch for logins while a user would normally be away or asleep and if you see something that concerns you it's time to investigate and protect, get passwords changed and isolate specific systems. Taking early action might just prevent the big attack and stop you from going out of business.