Zoom, chase the day away!

Working from home for most of us is now the new normal and with it comes the challenge of staying in touch with colleagues, clients, suppliers and customers alike. Therefore the growth of video conferencing solutions should be of no surprise to anyone, and one of the biggest successes is an application called Zoom. Is Zoom safe to use during the coronavirus pandemic?

Zoom already had a checkered past, experiencing a lot of negative press around 12 months ago when it was found to be secretly installing a web server on users machines that enabled hackers to take control of users webcams without their knowledge. Zoom fixed this, eventually.

This week Zoom has hit the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. There have been issues with it sending data, without user consent, to Facebook in their iOS app (again, Zoom have now fixed this). Then Zoom falsely claimed it’s group video was end-to-end encrypted, which it certainly is not. The latest report is that Zoom is leaking users email addresses and photos to strangers. A very worrying trend.

Check Point, a leading cybersecurity company, released a report this week explaining it has seen a steady rise in fake Zoom domains, stating “Each time you get a Zoom link or document messaged or forwarded to you, we recommend double-checking to make sure it’s not a trap”.

Not only this but if you do use the application and the host fails to set the security settings of the meeting correctly, there is the phenomenon of “zoombombing”, allowing uninvited guests to display disturbing and unwanted images in your conference!

Like all technologies, Zoom can be a useful tool, and it helps that it is free for most people’s uses. However, we would urge that organisations seriously consider whether the risks are worth taking when using it. Do contact us about any concerns you may have about using Zoom or options for alternatives.

And if you are too young to understand the title of this news article, then please check this video on YouTube out 😉 !