Security in Convay: Defining New Standards in Video Conferencing

As remote work and digital communication continue to shape our world, the search for reliable, secure, and high-quality video conferencing platforms remains a top priority. Enter Convay, an up-and-coming contender in this space, designed to compete with industry leaders like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

WebRTC: The Gold Standard

At the heart of Convay’s design is the WebRTC standard. WebRTC, or Web Real-Time Communication, is an open-source project that provides web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication via simple APIs. It allows audio and video communication to work inside web pages by allowing direct peer-to-peer communication, eliminating the need to install plugins or download native apps.

WebRTC incorporates Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) for secure data exchange and media encryption.

DTLS, a sibling of TLS, negotiates a secure session and exchanges data between peers using UDP as the transport layer. It handles unreliable delivery and performs a handshake over the connection established by ICE. During the handshake, certificates are exchanged and compared to ensure the expected WebRTC Agent.

SRTP, designed for secure media exchange, utilizes the keys generated by DTLS. It doesn’t have a handshake mechanism, so external keys are used for initialization. Once initialized, media can be encrypted and exchanged using SRTP.

In summary, Convay’s design utilizes the WebRTC standard for real-time communication, employing DTLS for secure peer-to-peer communication and SRTP for encrypting RTP packets, ensuring confidentiality and integrity during media exchange.

Prioritizing Security: Compliance and Certifications

Convay places a strong emphasis on security, aligning its protocols with industry standards and regulations. It’s working to become ISO 27001 certified, which is an internationally recognized standard for managing risks to the security of information held by an organization. ISO 27001 certification ensures that an organization has the requisite information security controls in place to protect data from being accessed, corrupted, lost, or stolen.

In addition to ISO 27001, Convay complies with Data Residency requirements and the globally recognized GDPR and CCPA privacy laws. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) set stringent rules on how personal data is handled, and Convay’s adherence to these rules ensures user privacy and data protection.

Authentication in Convay

Convay leverages the industry-standard SAML 2.0 (Security Assertion Markup Language) for authentication. Along with SAML 2.0, Convay also supports other popular authentication methods such as Google Sign-in, Facebook Login, and Password-based authentication. Users have the flexibility to enable or disable each authentication method according to their specific needs and preferences.

Data Protection in Convay

Protecting your data is of paramount importance to Convay, which is evident in its comprehensive data protection strategy:

1. Data in Transmission: Convay uses state-of-the-art encryption standards to secure data while it is being transmitted between users.
2. Data at Rest: Data stored on Convay’s servers is secured using industry-leading encryption methods, ensuring that it cannot be accessed or compromised.
3. Meeting Link Encryption: Convay’s meeting links are encrypted, adding an additional layer of security and making it nearly impossible for unauthorized users to gain access to meetings.
4. Meeting Recording Encryption: Any recordings of meetings conducted on Convay are encrypted, ensuring the privacy and security of these records.

Unrivaled Meeting Security

Convay goes above and beyond when it comes to the security of its meetings:

1. Secured Meeting IDs: Convay offers both personal and auto-generated meeting IDs for added flexibility and security. You can also change your personal ID whenever necessary.
2. Unique URL Concept: With the Unique URL-based meeting invitation, You can start your meeting with a Unique URL-based meeting link. It provides a unique meeting invitation link to each participant of the meeting and participants can join the meeting with their meeting link only. Once participants join the meeting, the unique meeting invitation link will be inactive and no other person can join through the link. It will help you prevent any unauthorized access. 
3. Passcode Protected Meetings: For added security, you can protect your meetings with a passcode.
4. Country and Domain Lock: You can limit access to your meetings by country or domain, providing targeted security. It has been implemented at the meeting level.
5. Verified Users Only: Convay only allows verified users to join meetings, adding another layer of protection.
6. Waiting Room: As a host, you can enable a waiting room to control who joins your meeting.
7. Host Control: The host has extensive control over the meeting, including screen sharing rights, the ability to suspend user activity, remove or block users, and lock the meeting. Hosts can also stop all screen shares with a single click.
8. Suspend Particular Meeting Activities: Convay allows hosts to suspend specific activities during meetings, such as screen sharing and muting/unmuting participants. This feature provides better control, allowing hosts to manage disruptions and maintain focus when needed.
9. Participants Log: Convay keeps a record of all meeting attendees, not only for audit purposes but also as a tool to evaluate meeting efficiency by tracking participant involvement.

A Commitment to Privacy

Convay’s commitment to privacy is evident in its operations:

1. Regulatory Compliance: Convay complies with all relevant privacy rules and data residency requirements.
2. No User Tracking: Convay guarantees it does not track user activities.
3. No Third-party Advertisement Tracking: There’s no third-party ad tracking, preserving your online privacy.
4. No AI Behavioral Tracking: Convay won’t use AI to track your behavior.
5. Privacy Window: Convay’s ‘Privacy Window’ pre-checks users’ audio and video settings, thereby enhancing privacy and preventing unintentional exposures.
6. User Control: The host doesn’t have the power to turn on users’ mics or cameras, ensuring respect for user privacy and autonomy.

In an era where secure and private online communication is not just preferred but necessary, Convay is rising as a robust and reliable video conferencing platform. By balancing high-end functionality with advanced security measures and a strong commitment to privacy, Convay is shaping up to be a serious contender in the world of digital communication. As users, businesses, and organizations continue to seek more secure conferencing solutions, Convay’s arrival is a welcome addition. With its impressive array of features, Convay is undoubtedly poised to make a significant impact on the video conferencing landscape.