It grew from 10million daily users in December 2019 to 200million daily users in March 2020 – an increase which was directly as a result of the lockdown and Social Distancing measures.
Zoom provided the ultimate video and teleconferencing solution by breaking all barriers and creating an easy to use solution across different platforms. It didn’t require the users to have zoom accounts or any form of tech know-how. The popularity also spiked after Zoom removed time limitations for schools for ease of learning.
However, hackers found a way to turn this solution into a nightmare. There have been reports of Zoom meetings getting hijacked in what is now being referred to as Zoombombing. Zoombombing sometimes feature cases of child abuse and racial abuse propagation. Also, there are other security concerns like data mining. It doesn’t help that 500,000 Zoom IDs were sold for less than penny .
These issues have led to the discontinuance of the use of Zoom app among SpaceX employees. Taiwan government recently forbade the use of the zoom app in the country. Google also banned its employees from using the app.
Does these security issues automatically mean the app is insecure? The answer is NO. It is just imperative that users be more vigilant. Zoom has recently announced through its CEO, Eric Yuan, that it is putting measures in place to make sure users are better educated on the safest way to use the app.
The company says that it is enacting a feature freeze, effectively immediately, and over the next 90 days, it will be shifting all its engineering resources to focus on the biggest trust, safety, and privacy issues.
HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF?
We advise that you follow the following precautions when using Zoom.
- When setting up a zoom meeting, the meeting host has to select ‘Advanced Sharing Options’ by clicking the arrow next to the ‘Share Screen’ icon. Here, choose ‘Only Host’ . This will make it impossible for any random person to share their screen.
- Avoid using personal meeting ID for creating Zoom video links. Once the link becomes public anyone can join the video call and hijack meeting. It is better to create random IDs instead.
- Use the waiting room feature. Zoom recently updated their setting in a way that will automatically turn on the Waiting Room feature and require additional password settings for all Basic users on free accounts and accounts with a single licensed user.
A hacked zoom meeting may be the least of all other issues you may encounter if not properly protected while working from home. You can read up on our tips to stay cyber secure when working from home.
