Broadcast operations are not immune to Cybersecurity Threats

The last session at DBS 2017 yesterday saw explanations and discussions on the burning issue of Cyber Attack within the broadcasting sector. This is becoming a very serious concern for broadcasters since quite recently major American and European television networks were hacked.

Talking on cyber security within the broadcast infrastructure, Mr Aale Raza, Director of Whiteways Systems Pte Ltd said to a large extent a cyber attack can be prevented. He proposed that a workflow should be set up and the network architecture should be isolated from the main office systems, storage should be checked for viruses and passwords should be changed periodically. Mr Raza added that the data center should be out of bounds for all employees except the most trusted ones and that control rooms should have thumb print or iris scan security.

Dr Peter Siebert, Director of DVB Office, replacing Mr Simon Fell of the EBU/WBU reminded broadcasters that transmission and content can be manipulated and hacked anytime. He enumerated the European Broadcasting Union Recommendations focussing on DDos Mitigation, Connected TVs Security, Media Systems Vendors Security and Security Governance as wells Malware and Ransomware Mitigation.