U.S. Senate, Google ban Zoom days after its launch of 'security council'
Following two weeks of escalating privacy and security concerns about video conferencing platform Zoom, the U.S. Senate and Google have both banned its members and employees from using the software.
An element of the U.S. government and a tech juggernaut have both banned Zoom.
Zoom has become a popular platform due to widespread coronavirus work-from-home policies, but it's been beset by multiple security and privacy blunders since its boom in usage.
Because of those concerns, various government entities, private corporations and public organizations have banned its members from using the app -- including both Google and at least one chamber of the U.S. Congress.
Ars Technica reports that the Senate sergeant-at-arms has warned senators against using the service. On Wednesday, Google also issued a ban on Zoom for employees, according to BuzzFeed News.
Both bans come just a few days after schools in New York City's Department of Education barred teachers from using the app to teach students remotely. The FBI warned Americans last month of a practice called "Zoombombing," which entails hijacking of video conferences by uninvited guests.
Zoom said in a statement that it is now "working around-the-clock to ensure that universities, schools, and other businesses around the world can stay connected and operational during this pandemic."
As part of its attempts to regain user trust, the platform has recently created a new security advisory council headed by former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos.
In March, a Motherboard investigation found that Zoom for iOS app was sending data to Facebook analytics without explicitly outlining the practice -- and even if a user didn't have an account. Zoom eventually removed that "feature."
The conferencing app has also had trouble with a "shady" malware-like installation process, misleadings claim about end-to-end encryption, and several local security vulnerabilities.
In the wake of those discoveries, the video conferencing app has paused development to focus on patching its security and privacy issues.
As a result of Zoom's flaws, a class-action lawsuit has been levied against Zoom in California for its handling of user data. The state of New York has also launched a probe into the company's privacy and security policies.
An element of the U.S. government and a tech juggernaut have both banned Zoom.
Zoom has become a popular platform due to widespread coronavirus work-from-home policies, but it's been beset by multiple security and privacy blunders since its boom in usage.
Because of those concerns, various government entities, private corporations and public organizations have banned its members from using the app -- including both Google and at least one chamber of the U.S. Congress.
Ars Technica reports that the Senate sergeant-at-arms has warned senators against using the service. On Wednesday, Google also issued a ban on Zoom for employees, according to BuzzFeed News.
Both bans come just a few days after schools in New York City's Department of Education barred teachers from using the app to teach students remotely. The FBI warned Americans last month of a practice called "Zoombombing," which entails hijacking of video conferences by uninvited guests.
Zoom said in a statement that it is now "working around-the-clock to ensure that universities, schools, and other businesses around the world can stay connected and operational during this pandemic."
As part of its attempts to regain user trust, the platform has recently created a new security advisory council headed by former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos.
In March, a Motherboard investigation found that Zoom for iOS app was sending data to Facebook analytics without explicitly outlining the practice -- and even if a user didn't have an account. Zoom eventually removed that "feature."
The conferencing app has also had trouble with a "shady" malware-like installation process, misleadings claim about end-to-end encryption, and several local security vulnerabilities.
In the wake of those discoveries, the video conferencing app has paused development to focus on patching its security and privacy issues.
As a result of Zoom's flaws, a class-action lawsuit has been levied against Zoom in California for its handling of user data. The state of New York has also launched a probe into the company's privacy and security policies.
Comments
Maybe we should rename it Comey-encryption?
Or, the whole point is getting someone who knows how to GET AWAY WITH implementing "security" practices.
A problem as old as humanity.
One can hope, I suppose. But, Zoom's track record seems more in line with Facebook than a company that actually wants to do things the right way. They've got a lot of proving to do before they should be trusted.
I get the litigation aspect, but the rest of the world values these things more? What societies are you thinking of?
As a resident of North America (Canada, but we're amazingly similar to the US in a lot of ways and I'm comfortable lumping us together for this), I'm speaking about my views about my own society. My exclusion of other places is not intended to imply that they're better, only that I don't have enough experience to make any comment about them with respect to this topic
👍🏼 ( <— thumbs up emoji )
(I’ve heard people say, “it’s free!!!” but a quick look at the Webex site shows that they also have a free option for up to 100 people per host for an unlimited meeting time.)
- Much of this is blown out of proportion. I'm not concerned with being Zoom-bombed, nor am I particularly concerned over my meetings being snooped on.
- I met with a company two weeks ago who wanted us to use their Teams system over Zoom. I found it to be less responsive, more cumbersome to access and use, and its UI was far less intuitive. Basically the same issues I find with most Microsoft products. It also didn't appear to have similar functionality, but that could have been dependent on features the host had not enabled.
I wouldn't even be using Office if my company didn't offer it. While Excel is just fine for crunching numbers, Numbers produces far better-looking tables and charts, I rarely use Word (Pages beats it for almost everything), and never use PowerPoint (because if's a f'ing horrible piece of crap in comparison to Keynote). That leaves Outlook which I use by default, even though I could be using Postbox or Apple Mail and Fantastical.