Microsoft has released a public preview of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for one- to -one and video calls in Teams , bringing it on par with popular Facebook apps WhatsApp and Messenger .
Microsoft announced that it was working on the encryption feature months ago. End-to-end encryption means that neither Microsoft nor anyone else can access your calls. In August, Facebook launched E2EE for voice and video calls in the Messenger app.
Learn more: Facebook Messenger: End-to-end encryption on voice and video calls
Enabling end-to-end encryption for calls in Teams requires action from both end users and IT administrators, who must enable the feature for their users.
Microsoft announces in a blog post that video and audio data are protected by E2EE and that both parties must enable the setting. End-to-end encryption in Microsoft Teams does not apply to chat or file sharing. These are protected by other encryption protocols such as HTTPS for secure connections between a device and a website.
To enable this feature, administrators must enable Enhanced Encryption policies for Microsoft Teams users. Administrators can enable it for the entire organization or set custom policies that grant the feature to selected users.
If the administrator allows E2EE, end users should go to their avatar and go to the Privacy in Settings. There is an option called “End-to-end encrypted calls”, which users should enable.
See also: WhatsApp iOS, Android: Chat backups with end-to-end encryption - How to enable them?
When both parties have enabled end-to-end encryption, there is an indicator at the top left of the video, indicating that E2EE is enabled for this call. The indicator is a shield with a lock. If E2EE is not enabled, the indicator is a regular shield icon without a lock. If it is enabled, there is a 20-digit security code below the indicator that should be the same for both parties.
If the password is not the same, the connection has been compromised by a man-in-the-middle attack and the call may be terminated.
See also: Microsoft: Expires old Windows updates to improve speed
End-to-end encryption for calls and video calls in Microsoft Teams is supported in the Teams desktop client for Windows and Mac, as well as in the latest versions of Teams on iOS and Android.
Features that are not supported when E2EE is enabled include all the cloud and AI tools that Microsoft brings to Teams, such as call recording and live captioning.
Currently, end-to-end encryption is not supported in group calls and group video calls.
Source: ZDNet
