Security News

In Zoom's white paper, there is a list of "Pre-meeting security capabilities" that are available to the meeting host that starts with "Enable an end-to-end encrypted meeting." Later in the white paper, it lists "Secure a meeting with E2E encryption" as an "In-meeting security capability" that's available to meeting hosts. When reached for comment about whether video meetings are actually end-to-end encrypted, a Zoom spokesperson wrote, "Currently, it is not possible to enable E2E encryption for Zoom video meetings. Zoom video meetings use a combination of TCP and UDP. TCP connections are made using TLS and UDP connections are encrypted with AES using a key negotiated over a TLS connection."

Zoom, in particular, has witnessed a massive influx of new users, which lead to increased scrutiny from information security researchers. Zoombombing, additionally exacerbated by lax privacy and security choices made by users and vulnerabilities that allow for the creation of tools like zWarDial, which automates Zoom meeting discovery.

Video-conferencing app maker Zoom has promised to do better at security after a bruising week in which it was found to be unpleasantly leaky in several ways. Host a weekly webinar on Wednesdays at 10am PT to provide privacy and security updates to our community.

While newer regulations like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act are steps in the right direction to protect consumer privacy, there is a need for tighter regulation for facial recognition technology. Facial recognition vs. facial authentication.

Concerns over privacy and security raise important questions: is Zoom safe, and is it even GDPR compliant? In our current example, we do not know whether the host asked for a copy to be kept by Zoom for future reference, or whether Zoom kept a copy by default.

What information is being collected online? Who's collecting it? Who should be held responsible for protecting our privacy? And how do we better protect it? A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock delved into those questions and more. The survey of more than 10,000 adults in the US and nine other countries found that more than two-thirds are more alarmed than ever about their online privacy.

Collaboration platform Zoom has seen usage skyrocket since the COVID-19 pandemic forced hundreds of thousands of workers to begin telecommuting. Zoom has been the subject of privacy concerns before; the video conferencing software experienced a webcam hacking scandal in 2019 and a bug that allowed uninvited users to potentially join meetings they hadn't been invited to, according to CNET. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using Zoom, especially for work-related functions.

Earlier this month, articles on Mashable, EFF, Forbes, and Consumer Reports, among others, heavily criticized Zoom for not ensuring that users' privacy is well protected, which encouraged web veteran Doc Searls to have a look into the matter as well. EFF too pointed out that Zoom hosts could monitor attendees' activity while screen-sharing, could see whether a participant has the Zoom window in focus or not, and that administrators can view "How, when, and where users are using Zoom," and can access the contents of recorded calls, including "Video, audio, transcript, and chat files."

One in four respondents to a Threatpost reader poll said they were okay with sacrificing a portion of their personal privacy in exchange for some form of cellphone tracking that could - in theory - reduce coronavirus infection rates and save lives. When asked, "For coronavirus tracking, do you think public-health benefits outweigh privacy risks?" approximately 27 percent voted "Yes - Privacy and data-protection laws should not get in the way of saving lives." Sixty-nine percent said, "No - A pandemic doesn't give authorities the right to strip citizens of their privacy rights."

As more and more people remain at home and work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them have been forced to use one or many video and audio conferencing applications out of necessity. One particular remote conferencing solution is quickly becoming the solution of choice for many users worldwide: Zoom.