The COVID-19 pandemic is having many unexpected consequences. One of those consequences is to bring the Zoom video conferencing platform to the attention of almost everyone. Zoom appears to have the best-in-class video conferencing software as far as video and audio quality go but there are lots of security and privacy issues with it.
It’s tempting to say these problems became known as a result of Zoom being thrust into limelight but the truth is that Zoom’s problems have been known for some time. Its sudden popularity has caused these problems to become widely understood and made things worse by revealing still more problems.
Bruce Schneier has an excellent post that discusses Zoom’s privacy and security problems. It’s astounding that software ostensibly targeted at enterprises could have such sloppy security. Schneier calls it a security and privacy disaster and notes that the New York City school system has banned its use.
The sad thing is there’s no reason for Zoom to be collecting their users’ information. They have a good product that would be successful on its own without shipping user data to Facebook and other dubious activities. They should clean up their act and hire someone who actually understands security, knows better than to run their crypto in Electronic Code Book mode and who understands the meaning of end-to-end encryption.
Before committing to the platform, take a look at Schneier’s post and evaluate if you really need to be or should be on Zoom. More and more organizations are concluding that it’s just not worth it.