Microsoft Makes Teams More Secure For Third-Party Integration

Teams will soon become more secure to integrate with third-party apps thanks to an upcoming update from Microsoft. (photo: Doc. Microsoft)

JAKARTA - Video conferencing app Teams will soon become more secure to integrate with third-party applications thanks to an upcoming update from Microsoft.

According to the company's latest product map report, Microsoft Teams users will have to manually apply for permission to integrate third-party apps they want to use via the website version.

"To further secure third-party Microsoft Teams apps that request native device permissions, such as camera, microphone, or location access - we'll ask users to manually select these permissions per app in the Microsoft Teams web browser experience," said Microsoft.

This update was previously available across desktop and mobile versions of Microsoft Teams. However, the permission system in the new version of the website is still under development, and is rumored to be applicable to all users from February next year.

Since the start of the pandemic, software vendors such as Microsoft, Zoom, and Slack have been working hard to extend built-in functionality such as video conferencing, VoIP, messaging, file sharing and more with third-party integrations.

In the case of Microsoft citing TechRadar, Tuesday, November 23, the company aims to turn Teams into a hub that can be a hub for work, by building various functions into the platform. From cloud storage, CRM to project management, calendars and more.

Just last week, Microsoft revealed it was developing a new display app store that would make it easier to identify the most useful third-party integrations based on the user base.

However, as the number of Teams apps grows, the chances of someone being misused for cybercrime purposes also increases. To address potential issues in the first place, Microsoft will soon ask users to manually define app permissions across all versions of Teams i.e. desktop, mobile, and now browsers.

However, the update can't be sure it will stop users from granting malicious apps access to their webcams and audio feeds, but at least it will force people to think twice about which apps they use.