Is TeamViewer a security risk?

In this article:

• What makes TeamViewer secure?

• Understanding the risks: Common security concerns 

• How to make TeamViewer safer

• Can TeamViewer be trusted? 

• Summary

You let people remotely access and control your computer? Sounds a little bit spooky or even dangerous at first, right?

What happens if they steal your data? Or lock you out of your device?

Since we started in 2005, we’ve encountered this line of thinking a lot. Because remote access sounds counterintuitive. And—let’s face it—the experience of watching someone root around your computer from afar is a little bit unnerving. It might always be.

But TeamViewer and remote access in themselves aren’t security threats. What matters is how you use them. By exercising caution and activating key security features, you can use it confidently without risk.

What makes TeamViewer secure?

TeamViewer is passionate about security, and we have a team of more than 50 people tasked with preventing and eliminating malicious behavior on our product platform. Over the last five years, we have invested millions in staying on top within our industry.

This commitment to security, which you can read more about at our Trust Center, also plays out within the product itself. Our platform has numerous security features that are specifically designed to ward off most threats. Let’s take a look at them now.

Advanced encryption

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) using 256-bit AES makes sure that your data is fully protected throughout every remote session. It does this by encrypting it on the sender’s side and only decrypting it on the receiver’s side. In this setup, no one else—and that includes us—can access or intercept the data being shared.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

2FA is a security process that means users have to provide two forms of verification before accessing an account or system. Usually, it combines something the user knows—a password, typically—with something the user has, like a mobile device, or something the user is, such as a fingerprint.

This added layer of security makes it a lot harder for unauthorized users to gain access. So, even if it adds a few more seconds to your work, you should always, always, activate it.

Learn more: Activate two-factor authentication

Allowlists and blocklists

One essential feature within TeamViewer is the ability to define allowlists and blocklists.

With an allowlist, only pre-determined devices and users are allowed to access your devices. A blocklist, by contrast, allows connections by default but prevents access for certain users you’ve specified in advance.

When it comes to remote access, it makes a lot of sense to implement this functionality. Learn all about allowlists and blocklists in this article.

 

Secure password policies

TeamViewer has a host of password features specifically designed to keep you and your devices safe. One such feature is Single Sign-on (SSO), which allows you to securely authenticate multiple applications, systems, and websites using just one set of credentials.

At the same time, Easy Access will help you to move towards a more secure password-less approach. This gets rid of the need to enter any ID or password when logged in to your TeamViewer account.

Read more: Password safety is evolving; can your business keep up?

Understanding the risks: Common security concerns

Broadly speaking, the security concerns using TeamViewer in particular stem from its primary use case: remote access. In effect, what makes TeamViewer incredible is the same thing that —when used incorrectly—opens it up to security problems:

Unauthorized access

By not following proper security measures within TeamViewer, you open the floodgates to bad actors, data, and identity theft.

Unauthorized access is a serious, and growing problem. In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 1.1 million reports of identity theft, much of which came from unauthorized access to personal devices and information.

Phishing scams

One of the key concerns around using TeamViewer is the threat of phishing scams—most commonly, when someone pretends to be from a trusted authority with the aim of obtaining personal information.

And it’s smart to be mindful of this: Phishing scams are on the rise, often with serious financial consequences for people who fall victim to them.

Read more: How to protect yourself from phishing and social engineering.

How to make TeamViewer safer

Unfortunately, many negative reviews of TeamViewer are written by people who have fallen foul of scammers using it. Most often, someone contacts them pretending to be an IT support professional and asks them to download the app and grant them access to their personal device. From there, the scammers can go on to cause serious damage.

While dreadful, this doesn’t mean that TeamViewer itself is unsafe. Instead, it calls for extra caution when using it. Following these steps will go a long way in this:

Never share your credentials

Never, ever, share your TeamViewer credentials or IDs with an unverified person—even if the person asking for them claims to be from customer support or a reputable institution like a bank or energy provider. Always check to see if the person making the request is genuine. If you have to grant access to someone, always use temporary session passwords that expire after one use.

Run regular updates

Have a pending software update? Don’t snooze it for too long. Among other things, software updates often include patches to fix bugs and optimize security. With TeamViewer and most other software, updated means more secure.

Set strong, unique passwords

Set a strong, unique password for your TeamViewer account, ideally using a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Avoid reusing passwords across multiple accounts.

Enable two-factor authentication

Setting up two-factor authentication means that if your password is compromised, another step is in place to keep you and your data safe. Below you’ll find an easy guide to setting it up within TeamViewer.

Disable features when not in use

Disabling certain features like file transfer or remote control when you don’t need them will reduce the attack surface and the potential for misuse if your session credentials are compromised.