After Global Backlash, Zoom Apologises For Privacy Issues & Rolls Out New Security Measures


New Delhi: Of late, video-conferencing platform ‘Zoom’ has become a privacy nightmare, with governments, companies and organisations across the world expressing major concerns over its security practices. Notably, Zoom has emerged as a one-stop solution for video meetings, online classes etc amid the coronavirus lockdown, as people stay and work from home. Also Read – ‘Zoom Not a Safe Platform For Video Conferencing,’ Govt Warns Users in Fresh Advisory

India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday too issued an advisory on the use of the video conferencing app and said the use of the platform is ‘not safe.’ Earlier last week, Google also issued a ban on the use of Zoom teleconferencing platforms for its employees citing security concerns.

After widespread criticism, Zoom issued an apology over privacy and security issues, and announced a number of new measures to make the platform more secure for its users.

On Thursday, Zoom chief executive Eric Yuan rolled out steps to tackle problems such as data hacking and harassment by individuals who crash sessions in what is referred to as “Zoombombing.”

Here are some of them:

1. The company informed that by week’s end, paid account holders will be able to select which regions their data is routed through during their sessions. The move is apparently aimed at concerns over information passing through China where it might be subject to snooping.

“As a reminder, meeting servers in China have always been geofenced with the goal of ensuring that meeting data of users outside of China stays outside of China,” Zoom said in an online post.

2. Zoom is also planning to overhaul its processes by teaming up with cyber-security firm Luta Security. A ‘bug bounty’ program will also be created to pay rewards to researchers who find security flaws in its operations.

3. The company further addressed a recent report that users’ log-in information was being sold by criminals on the ‘dark web.’ The credentials were likely stolen elsewhere on the internet, or by malicious code slipped into people’s computers, Zoom advisor Alex Stamos, said.

Zoom said it is building systems to ‘detect whether people are trying out username and password pairings and block them from trying again.’

4. Improvements to Zoom security also include a toolbar to easily access features such as locking chats from strangers and making meeting password requirements a default setting.


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