What Does a Secure Webinar Platform Actually Mean for Financial Services?

“Is your webinar platform secure?”

It’s a pretty straightforward question.

The answer, however, probably needs to be a little more detailed than “yes”.

Particularly in Financial Services, where an online event might involve client information, registration data, internal communications or content intended for a very specific audience.

Security isn’t something your audience should really notice. They register, join the event and watch the presentation.

Behind the scenes, there’s a little more to think about.

Who can access the platform? Who can access the event? What information are you collecting from attendees? And what processes does the platform provider itself have in place?

Not quite as exciting as planning the content or getting your speakers ready.

Pretty important, though.

Start with who can access your event

Not every webcast needs to be open to everybody.

An investor update might be publicly available, while a client briefing could be intended for a much smaller group. Internal communications are another thing altogether.

Your registration and access setup should reflect that.

Sometimes you simply need people to complete a registration form before joining. For other events, you might want more control over who can actually access the content.

It’s worth thinking about the recording too.

If your event is made available on demand afterwards, consider whether that should be publicly available or whether access still needs to be controlled.

Think about who can access the platform too

Your audience isn’t the only group to consider.

There are also the people building and managing your events behind the scenes.

Depending on the size of your webinar programme, that could include people from Marketing, Communications, Events and other teams across the organisation.

Not everybody necessarily needs the same level of access.

The important thing is knowing who has access to the technology your organisation is using and making sure that setup works for your team.

Registration data deserves some thought

Every time somebody registers for a webinar, you’re collecting information about them.

At its simplest, that might just be their name and email address. You might also ask for their company, job title, location or other information that helps you understand who's attending.

It can be tempting to add lots of fields to a registration form because the information might be useful later.

But it's worth asking what you actually need.

A shorter registration form can make life easier for your audience, while also keeping the information you collect focused on what’s genuinely useful for the event.

Ask your webinar provider about security

Security shouldn’t be something you simply have to take a supplier’s word for.

If your IT or security team has questions about the webinar technology you’re considering, your provider should be able to answer them.

That’s also where recognised standards can be useful.

WorkCast is ISO 27001 certified for information security management, providing an independently recognised framework around how information security is managed within the business.

We’re also ISO 9001 certified for quality management.

Certifications aren't the most glamorous part of webinar technology. Your audience certainly isn't going to register because they spotted an ISO logo.

But for the people responsible for choosing and approving the technology behind the event, they can be an important part of the conversation.

Security shouldn't make the event difficult to use

There’s another side to all of this.

A secure setup still needs to work for the people actually using it.

Your audience needs to be able to register and join. Presenters need to know where they’re going. Your team needs to be able to manage the event without turning every small change into a complicated process.

The aim isn’t to add as many barriers as possible.

It’s to have the right controls in the right places for the type of event you’re running.

It’s worth asking the boring questions

When you’re comparing webinar platforms, it’s easy to concentrate on what the audience will see.

And, of course, that matters.

But some of the less visible questions are worth asking too.

Who can access your events? Who can access the platform? What attendee information are you collecting? What security standards does your provider work to?

You might not put any of those things on the opening slide of your webcast.

But you’ll probably be glad you asked about them before you start broadcasting.

If you’re reviewing webinar technology for investor updates, client briefings, internal broadcasts or other Financial Services events, you can learn more about how WorkCast supports them.

Learn more about WorkCast for Financial Services.