Zoom has relished a spike in usage after the coronavirus outbreak began, as lockdowns have restrained people to remain inside their homes. The San Jose, California-based video conferencing tool reached 200 million daily meeting participants in March, up from 10 million last year. However, after the revelation that meetings aren"t end-to-end encrypted, the company has been facing a backlash. Taiwan and Germany restricted the use of Zoom over security concerns. Similarly, the Indian government stated that the video conferencing software is “not a safe platform,” exhibiting its concerns about the security features within the app.
In a 16-page advisory, Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of India"s ministry of home affairs noted that “Zoom is a not a safe platform.” Vulnerabilities include "zoombombing," in which unverified individuals disrupt the meetings by shouting racial slurs and displaying obscene imagery. The company has apologized for the flaws, and currently is enacting a 90-day feature freeze to fix the flaws. Eric Yuan, Zoom CEO, said earlier this month that no new features would be released until the current feature set is fixed.
The government agency also detailed guidelines on how to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to meetings. A spokesperson for Zoom informed that the company is currently coordinating with governments globally, and assisting them in making "informed decisions about their policies."
Source: Reuters