Dr Maiendra Moodley, Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa Professional CIO ( Pr.CIO), says AV systems are one of the most overlooked attack surfaces in enterprise cybersecurity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConnected boardrooms represent some of the most information-rich environments within an organisation because they sit at the centre of executive decision-making, strategic planning and commercially sensitive discussions,” says Moodley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“While ransomware remains a significant concern, organisations should not underestimate the espionage risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesse Bosch, Head of Commercial at Prosirius, notes: \u201cAV is not just in the boardroom: digital signage now touches the network, as do your media players, anything for wireless presentations, your touch panels, your IPTV endpoints, control processors, and many other edge devices.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They all fall within the AV category and they\u2019re hitting your network, so they could create vulnerabilities,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe biggest mistake organisations make is believing that AV is somehow separate from IT,\u201d Dr Moodley says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe moment a conferencing platform, digital signage system, wireless presentation device or boardroom camera connects to a network, it becomes part of the organisation’s cyber attack surface.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n “If a device is connected, it must be governed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Organisations should apply the same security principles to digital signage and public AV systems that they apply to any other network-connected asset,” Moodley adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The most dangerous systems are often the ones nobody thinks of as computers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moodley explains that the problem is not the technology itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The problem is accountability and governance. AV frequently falls between Facilities, IT, Operations and Security, creating accountability gaps that attackers are more than happy to exploit.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Attackers do not respect organisational charts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, functionality, interoperability and user experience often took precedence over security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But security and usability should not be viewed as competing objectives, Dr Moodley says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean Bethell, Head of Engineering at AVT, says: \u201cAs the complexity and interconnectedness of AV systems has increased, along with the rapid uptake of AI systems, organisations are focusing more on cybersecurity around AV systems.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s no longer sufficient to have enough IT and cybersecurity knowledge just to get by.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Organisations need specialised expertise or collaboration between traditional AV and traditional IT systems to collectively tackle and address this risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stuart Pringle, Managing Director of Omega Digital Services, says: \u201cMost customers are totally risk-averse when it comes to security, so they want to understand how AV integrators will align with their security standards.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n “They must have the right credentials, implement trusted technology and VLANs, and work closely with OEMs to offer the assurance that our solutions are secure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To\u00a0better secure the AV environment, Dr Moodley believes manufacturers should adopt security-by-design principles, ensuring that authentication, encryption, secure update mechanisms, vulnerability management and supply-chain assurance are incorporated throughout the product lifecycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Organisations should focus on designing secure environments where strong authentication, access controls, device management, and monitoring operate largely behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSecurity can no longer be treated as a feature to be added later. It must be embedded from the outset,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1600x900-Jesse-Profile-Pic-1200x675.jpg\")
Accountability and governance are crucial<\/h2>\n\n\n\n