Increased Risk Effects Demand for New Technology
On January 23rd, the New York Times wrote an article explaining how video conferences in companies are not as secure as they should be. A hacker from a security company was hired to see how safe and secure videoconferencing technology was. He was able to view a substantial amount of conference rooms around the world using videoconferencing equipment. The danger here is what videoconferences could be viewed. The hacker could've seen or heard very private material from lawyers, politicians, or fortune 500 companies that use videoconferencing technology in their everyday work.
This testrun proved that videoconference equipment isn't as safe at it was in the past. These systems used to be run on secure phone lines when it was invented. With the frequent use of the Internet, videoconferencing switched to a more modern medium for its use. The taste of its users made companies focus on videoconferencing being pretty and clear instead of safe and secure. Most companies were buying high end technology without spending the money to set it up well. Most of the equipment comes with multiple safety feature, but companies aren't taking the time to set them up
No company has announced that it has been hacked yet, but it is likely when administrators are setting up the equipment outside the firewall as a shortcut. Some would argue that the firewall is only needed for serious organizations like the government run ones, but this is probably wrong. Companies may not be aware of how unsafe their equipment it.
Knowledge of this lack of safety could effect the demand for this new technology. Companies with the equipment are obviously more likely to install these new security features. This also opens up a door for companies that make and install the technology. Companies that make the technology can compete to highlight safety features in their equipment to make other equipment seem like an inferior good. Companies that install and repair the technology are likely to have an increase in the demand for their service because they are seen as a more necessary complementary good. All in all, the demand for the technology is bound to change with this newfound information in the paper.
