The issue with video distribution within a company is how to securely distribute videos on a limited basis. When selecting a video distribution platform, it is necessary to consider how to prevent information leaks from occurring in a systematic way for videos that may contain confidential information or personal information within the company. When it comes to security in video distribution, many people think of major DRM (Digital Rights Management) systems such as Microsoft PlayReady, Google Widevine, and Apple FairPlay Streaming. It is true that DRM is the most secure method of video distribution, but it is rare for companies to use DRM for video distribution within their own companies. Also, security settings such as easily setting passwords for each video can lead to a decrease in accessibility and the number of video views. So, what methods are generally used to achieve secure video distribution within companies? We will introduce the dangers of YouTube’s limited release feature and five methods of secure distribution.
## The dangers of YouTube’s limited release
YouTube has a function that limits the public viewing of videos, and it seems that some companies use this function to distribute videos within their company. If you set a video that you don’t want to be publicly viewed on YouTube to “limited release”, it will not appear in YouTube’s search results or in related videos. Because only users who know the limited release URL can view the video, it is thought to be secure, but there is a blind spot.
If this URL is leaked outside the company, anyone will be able to see it. Videos uploaded to YouTube are given a separate URL for each video. This URL can be easily forwarded by email or chat, and since anyone can view it by accessing the URL, there is a high risk of information leaks.
*This is a video that has been set to be publicly viewable on YouTube. If you right-click on the video, a link that allows you to easily access the video will be displayed.
## How to securely distribute videos
### 1. Streaming distribution
There are two methods of distributing videos: streaming and progressive download. Progressive download is a method of playing a video file that exists on a server while downloading it to a device such as a PC or smartphone. On the other hand, the streaming method divides the video file on the server into segments at regular intervals, and plays them back in order on the terminal side. Because of the segmentation, it is a system that is more difficult to restore than the progressive download method. It is also possible to deliver it more securely by encrypting the communication and segment files.
### 2. IP address restrictions
The simplest way to restrict access is to restrict access by global IP address. Depending on the video delivery player or website delivering the video, or the CDN vendor, it is possible to set up an IP address access restriction function for accessing video files. A global IP address is a unique IP address assigned to identify a company connected to the Internet. By preparing a player or website that can only be accessed from a specific global IP address held by the company, it is possible to securely deliver videos.
### 3. Domain restrictions
When using a cloud-based video distribution platform to distribute videos on a website (intranet site), it is common to embed tags such as iframe or Video format into the HTML of the website. With the Google Chrome browser, you can identify and copy the tags by right-clicking and selecting “View page source”.
Identifying the tags requires a little technical knowledge, but by copying the tags and embedding them on other websites, it is possible to view videos on other websites. To solve this problem, domain restrictions are a mechanism that allows video distribution players to play only on specific domains (URLs).
For example, if you are only distributing videos on the domain www.sample.com, you can restrict the video distribution player to only work on www.sample.com. In this case, even if you identify the tags for distributing videos that exist on www.sample.com and embed the copied tags on a different domain such as www.aaa.com, you will not be able to play the videos on www.aaa.com. If you use this in conjunction with the IP address restriction described above, you can say that you can distribute videos more securely.
### 4. SSO (Single Sign-On)
The above IP address access restrictions are relatively easy to set up, but if there are many IP addresses for smartphones and tablet devices (or if they have dynamic IP addresses), there is the disadvantage that system operation becomes complicated. If the company website (or CMS) that distributes videos is compatible with SAML2.0, it is possible to build an integrated and secure environment through authentication services such as HENGE One, CloudGate, OneLogin, Okta, and Active Directory Federation Services. These tools not only provide functions such as user account management for websites, password policy settings, and access status monitoring, but also enable batch authentication management of other cloud services, reducing the amount of time and effort required for operational management.
### 5. Video distribution-specific CMS
As the number of videos to be distributed within a company increases, it is convenient to have a portal site where you can watch them all together. Video distribution-specific CMS, such as [Brightcove Gallery](https://www.brightcove.com/ja/products/gallery) and [Socialcast](https://socialcast.jp/) by Adjust, allow you to efficiently manage and distribute multiple videos without any specialized knowledge of HTML or CSS. These CMS have the security functions mentioned above. If you are considering detailed access restrictions for each user, it is possible to build a more versatile and secure video distribution environment by linking your company’s authentication system with the CMS.
