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Is Zoom Safe to Use? Here's What You Need to Know
Zoom, the popular videoconferencing service, seems to be doing better than most and has quickly become one of, if not the most, popular option going. To wit:.
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Skip to content. Share on: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook. Compare Zoom to The Best Conference Call Services Compared to some of the best conference call services on the market today, Zoom is one of the more popular and flexible services.
The Bad Security: Unfortunately, one of the major drawbacks of Zoom is its security department. Zoom Pricing and Options Zoom offers quite a few pricing plans for different business conference needs.
Basic Plan: Free forever, no credit card required. Some of these features include: participant capacity Unlimited group meetings minute group meeting duration no limit for one-on-one meetings Local recording Screen sharing You also get access to new features like the option to pin or spotlight multiple people during meetings, filters, and built-in Zoom for home devices.
Some other Pro features include: Co-host and alternate host Assign meeting scheduler No time limit on group meetings Rest API Skype for Business Streaming The Pro plan is a less expensive alternative for small to mid-sized teams looking for the perfect balance between basic and super-advanced technology. You may have to install the update "manually" by downloading it directly from the Zoom website opens in new tab.
Zoom's client software for Windows and Mac personal use now lets you enable automatic updates opens in new tab , which means you'll get all the latest crucial security fixes as soon as they come. Even better, the new feature lets you choose a "fast" or "slow" lane for less urgent updates, meaning that you can choose whether to get all the latest features and risk a little instability, or to proceed at a steady pace with maximum reliability.
Automatic updates will probably be enabled by default soon for all new and existing users. As a result of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit relating to some of the privacy and security issues detailed earlier on this page, anyone who used Zoom between March 30, and July 30, is entitled to a cash payout. It might not be a lot of money per person. To file a claim, read the fine print at ZoomMeetingClassAction. Tom's Guide cannot guarantee that you will get anything. Zoom has patched three serious flaws in some of its enterprise video-conferencing software, the worst of which could have let an attacker penetrate a company's internal server system.
The following enterprise Zoom applications are vulnerable and must be updated, per a report from Positive Technologies opens in new tab : Meeting Connector Controller up to version 4. Regarding consumer software, Zoom has fixed a security flaw in Zoom Client for Meetings for Windows, which needs to be updated to version 5. That's according to the Zoom Security Bulletin opens in new tab page.
Zoom announced that beginning Nov. Anyone running software older than that will be prompted to update their software. This affects all Zoom software running on all supported platforms except for Zoom Room Controller software, at least for now.
Zoom disclosed several security issues opens in new tab that had been fixed in later versions of Zoom's desktop clients and plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook for both Windows and macOS. The flaws ranged in severity from low to high, with some allowing remote code execution — i. All were patched by at least Zoom Client for Meetings 5. Zoom announced that it planned to roll out end-to-end encryption opens in new tab to Zoom Phone opens in new tab , its paid cloud calling service for Pro, Business or Enterprise accounts.
The end-to-end encryption will be an option for one-to-one Zoom Phone calls. Zoom announced via its Zoom Security Bulletin opens in new tab that the remote-hacking flaw demonstrated at the Pwn2Own competition in April had been fixed. Zoom reached a tentative settlement in a federal class-action lawsuit that alleged the company skimped on security, misled users and shared user personal data with third parties without notification or consent. Enterprise and government Zoom account holders are not part of this litigation.
Known class members will be notified by email or regular mail that they can file a claim, and others will be able to use the website www. Zoom has released a " simpler, clearer opens in new tab " privacy policy that reflects the fact that the online meeting service has "shifted from a primarily enterprise-focused product to one that is also used broadly by individuals" during the COVID pandemic.
The updated privacy policy includes more details about who can "see, save and share" Zoom meeting content, and the kinds of data that Zoom collects from users' devices.
You can read the full updated Zoom privacy "statement" here opens in new tab. In a blog post, Zoom announced that it had added privacy notifications opens in new tab to the latest version of its desktop client software. The notifications appear in the in-meeting chat window as a button labeled "Who can see your messages? It added that future updates would include notifications when a meeting host or participant uses a Zoom transcription or scheduling app during a meeting.
Two researchers demonstrated at the Pwn2Own contest that they could remotely take over Windows PCs and Macs by using at least one previously unknown vulnerability in the Zoom desktop application.
Fortunately, the only people who fully understand how this exploit works are the two researchers and Zoom itself, which is working on a fix. The chances of this attack being used "in the wild" are low, but if you're concerned, use the Zoom browser interface instead during meetings until this is fixed. Zoom lets meeting participants share all of their computer screens, part of their screens, or just specific application windows with other people in the same meeting. Two German researchers discovered that for a brief moment, the entire screen may be visible even when the Zoom user sharing the screen intends only part of the screen to be.
Any participants recording the meeting would be able to freeze frames during playback and view potentially sensitive information. Zoom said it was working to fix the issue, but at the time of this writing, the flaw was still present in the latest version of the Zoom desktop client software for at least Windows and Linux. Keybase, an encrypted social-media verification system and chat app bought by Zoom in May , had a serious flaw opens in new tab that preserved images in online directories even after the user had deleted them.
The flaw was reported to Zoom in early January , and a Keybase software update to fix the flaw was released later that month. A new study conducted by researchers at Boston University and Binghamton University found that efforts to stop "Zoom bombing," such as requiring passwords or making attendees stew in "waiting rooms," often won't work. That's because many attacks are carried out by "insiders" who are already authorized to be in the meetings.
The "only effective defense" against such insider attacks, the paper argues, is to create "unique join links for each participant.
Plagued by an epidemic of Zoom-bombing during city-assembly meetings, the city of Juneau, Alaska is exploring ways to outlaw the practice. Police in Alaska's capital have had a hard time tracking down the Zoom bombers. The city hopes that by making the practice illegal, it can compel Zoom to turn over information identifying the digital miscreants. In a bombshell announcement, the U. Department of Justice opens in new tab said it had issued an arrest warrant for former Zoom executive Jin Xinjiang, aka Julien Jin, who until recently had served as the liaison between Zoom and the Chinese government.
The U. Jin is thought to be residing in China. Jin allegedly had help from unnamed co-conspirators who created fake email accounts and Zoom accounts in the names of known Chinese dissidents "to fabricate evidence that the hosts of and participants in the meetings to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre were supporting terrorist organizations, inciting violence or distributing child pornography.
The Dept. The DoJ announcement and arrest warrant opens in new tab refer only to an unnamed "Company-1" as Jin's employer, but in a blog post, Zoom admitted that it was the company opens in new tab and that it had been conducting its own investigation after it received a subpoena from the U.
The post further explained that Jin had been hired by Zoom in October as part of an agreement with the Chinese government, which in September had "turned off our service in China without warning. The price of getting Zoom turned back on in China was to hire "an in-house contact for law enforcement requests" — i.
Zoom service was restored in China in November , and the Dept. Zoom admitted that Jin "shared or directed the sharing of a limited amount of individual user data with Chinese authorities," and that the information of "fewer than ten The Better Business Bureau opens in new tab is warning Zoom users that scammers are trying to steal their usernames and passwords via phishing emails and text messages, reports Threatpost opens in new tab.
The messages tell you that "your Zoom account has been suspended" or that "you missed a meeting," and offer a helpful link to log back in.
But don't fall for the bait -- the login page is really a trap to capture your Zoom user credentials, with which the crooks can use or even steal your Zoom account. One of the biggest problems with Zoom has been "Zoom bombing," in which uninvited participants crash a Zoom meeting and disrupt it.
Over the weekend, Zoom released two new features to combat this. One, "Suspend Participant Activities," lets the meeting host pause the meeting, kick out disruptive participants, and then resume the meeting.
The other, "Report by Participants," extends to meeting participants the ability to report disruptive participants, a remedy that previously had been given only to meeting hosts. The Federal Trade Commission announced that Zoom "misled users" and "engaged in a series of deceptive and unfair practices" regarding its own security.
The FTC cited the fake end-to-end encryption uncovered in March and software that Zoom installed on Macs without authorization in and Zoom must agree to yearly internal security reviews and external security reviews every other year and must implement a vulnerability-management program. Another stipulation was that Zoom offer customers multi-factor authentication , which it has already implemented.
Researchers in Texas and Oklahoma discovered that it's possible to tell what someone is typing during a Zoom call just by watching their shoulders and arms. Any kind of video-conferencing platform could be used for this, the researchers said, as could YouTube videos or streaming platforms like Twitch. Zoom's end-to-end-encryption feature finally went live, except on iOS where it had to wait for Apple's approval.
We've got instructions on how to enable Zoom's end-to-end encryption. After a long period of time with no Zoom news, the company announced that the end-to-end encryption it had been working on for many months would soon be available for beta testing. Users will have to wait for a Zoom client software update in the third week of October. Meeting hosts will be deciding whether to make a Zoom meeting end-to-end encrypted.
Those meetings will not work for now for users trying to join via the web-browser interface or over the telephone. If you recall that the Zoom web interface was out of commission for a few days back in April , now we know why: The company was fixing a very serious security flaw that could have let anyone join a private Zoom meeting.
British security researcher Tom Anthony opens in new tab detailed on his blog this week how he found that he could make endless random guesses on the 6-digit PINs Zoom assigns to private meetings.
That's a million possibilities to go through, which might be tough for a human, but isn't hard for a decently powered PC running multiple threads. Anthony found he could break into Zoom meetings in about half an hour, give or take. That's long before many meetings are over. An unnamed security researcher found a critical flaw in the Zoom meetings client software for Windows that would let a hacker remotely take over any PC running Windows 7 or earlier.
Zoom fixed the flaw with a software update soon after the flaw became public knowledge. Backing down after sustained criticism from privacy advocates, Zoom announced in a blog posting June 17 opens in new tab that its upcoming end-to-end encryption E2E wouldn't just be for paid users any more. The millions of people who use Zoom for free for school, socializing and work would get end-to-end encryption too.
Yuan wrote. But if you're a free user who wants E2E, you'll first have to verify your identity to Zoom via a one-time-password or similar service. This will make it harder to "zoom bomb" meetings.
The E2E encryption will remain an optional feature, Yuan reminded, because when it's activated, no one can join a meeting over the phone or with certain office teleconferencing equipment. Google and Microsoft would certainly not mind more enterprise customers.
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Prices spiked again in June. There is reason for hope, but much higher borrowing rates and a possible recession could loom on the other side. Zoom has since updated its privacy policy , but the phrasing still gives the organisation room to use personal information in a variety of ways. Crucially, that includes using third-party trackers and surveillance-based advertising — which if not selling your data is certainly sharing it.
Zoom has been hurriedly addressing the myriad security flaws that have been unearthed in recent weeks, which is perhaps a sign that its developers were, at best, careless. Unfortunately, the suddenness with which employees were requested to work from home meant that organisations needed quick solutions. Zoom has taken accountability for many of its security and privacy failings, which is always a positive step.
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