Microsoft is rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to Teams for one-to-one calls in public preview.
The security update, which can be turned on by an organisation’s IT admin, means that calls will be encrypted at their origin and decrypted at their destination – without the ability of third parties to decrypt, including Microsoft.
Only unscheduled calls can use E2EE encryption at the moment, but Microsoft has previously said that it will roll the protection out to other meeting forms over time.
E2EE will not be turned on automatically for users, but they can enable it in their Teams settings once it has been turned on by an IT admin. The added security is available across desktop and mobile clients, but not for Teams via web browser. It is also unavailable for PSTN calls.
Users can check that a call has E2EE enabled by checking for the symbol in the top left corner of the window.
Users can confirm the added protection by checking that the 20-digit code provider is the same as the one displayed for the other call participant. Two different codes are an indication that the call has been intercepted and is not secure.
There are, however, a set of Teams features that are not available when E2EE is turned on:
- Recording
- Live caption and transcription
- Call transfer (blind, safe, and consult)
- Call Park
- Call Merge
- Call Companion and transfer to another device
- Add participant to make the one-to-one call a group call
Users can toggle off E2EE to use the features above.
Announcing E2EE at Microsoft Ignite earlier this year, Nicole Herskowitz, General Manager of Microsoft Teams, said: “Regardless of how and where work happens, you shouldn’t have to compromise the safety of your people and data.
“Think of when you review financial data or discuss a confidential new product launch. You want to ensure that what is discussed stays between people in the conversation.
“It is our commitment to continue partnering with our customers to support more secure and trustworthy communications and collaboration”
Other UC vendors to introduce E2EE include RingCentral, Zoom, Lifesize and 8×8.
