Is your network R2-D2 secure?

This post is sponsored by Broadsign.

Even for those who aren’t the most diehard Star Wars fans, the white and blue droid known as R2-D2 is a well-known fixture in pop culture.

In the fictional universe, droids serve several purposes – some are battle focused, some pilot spacecraft, and others are counted on for their technical prowess. Droids are recognised for their agility, flexibility, and overall reliability – there’s a lot that your OOH network can learn from these trusted robots.

In recent years, there has been a rise in security breaches across all industries, from telecom providers to hospitals – and OOH media hasn’t been spared, either. After all, OOH is a public medium with enough scale to reach millions of people, and to be able go viral quickly. That’s why OOH is consistently the top choice for brands looking to go boldly with their campaigns and leave a lasting impression. As a media owner, you must behave like a droid and access the capabilities that set you and your network apart.

But certain risks can be involved when running such broad campaigns, specifically concerning security breaches and hacking threats. Many governments worldwide are aware of the potential risks, and some have banned media owners from connecting their screens to the internet, especially in sensitive areas such as airports.

But, in an industry such as digital out-of-home, having the internet opens up opportunities. However, rather than just pulling the plug and restricting access to mitigate risk, there are plenty of other ways to ensure your network is secure.

One is having the ability to manage and control your network remotely (especially during an unprecedented period such as the early stages of the pandemic in 2020) and having the ability to address any issues. The second is running dynamic content to adapt your content to changing conditions such as weather, and last, enabling real-time programmatic transactions.

For example, a last-minute demonstration was held in Montreal to support climate change. Within two hours, Broadsign launched a campaign targeting screens along the demonstration route and delivered almost 460,000 impressions throughout the day. This was only possible with the internet, and media owners would have lost the opportunity to benefit from the sudden eyeball increase without that access.

There are challenges faced by network operation managers, along with unexpected costs associated with having a secure network. Staffing shortages is one costly thing that is plaguing many industries, including out-of-home. And when you factor in the prices of hiring and training new candidates to monitor and troubleshoot, things add up for network operators.

Increasingly complex networks are another challenge media owners face. As the industry changes and evolves, so does the need to adapt and upgrade hardware and software to stay competitive.

That’s where the Broadsign platform comes in. Like a droid, Broadsign helps media owners manage, oversee, and optimise their networks. Beyond that, Broadsign is dedicated to ensuring that all its policies and procedures meet the highest standards to evolve with the industry.

One example of that is our recent SOC 2 certification, which is considered across the industry to be the gold standard in information security. This means providing peace of mind for media owners in protecting consumer data.

Furthermore, Broadsign is a cost-effective and user-friendly solution. The team performs regular penetration tests to ensure the risk of a security breach is minimal so that media owners can focus on what they do best – expand their network and sell media at the best possible prices in the galaxy.

The writer is Veronica Ong, sales director, SEA, Broadsign.