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Is zoom safe to download and use -
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.
Started in by Chinese software engineer Eric Yuan, who emigrated from China to Silicon Valley at the age of 27, Zoom has quietly overtaken rivals such as Skype and Microsoft Teams, in part because of some pretty simple features including adaptive backgrounds.
It is free for anyone to use but its basic package has a minute meeting limit for more than three participants, something it has just lifted for schools in the UK, Canada and Germany to allow teachers to make use of longer sessions as they home-school their pupils. It has been downloaded more than 50 million times on the Google app store alone as a global lockdown sends people in desperate search of digital ways to stay in touch with work colleagues, friends and family.
Zoom collects large amounts of data in order to analyse its service and to provide businesses with useful tools. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has compiled a list of its privacy issues:. Despite these warnings, people generally seem happy to share more and more aspects of their life on the app, including some who have given away rather more than they intended.
A widely shared video on social media shows a woman in a business conference forgetting that her colleagues can see her and going to the toilet mid-meeting while the rest of her team look on in bewildered embarrassment. Other breaches of etiquette include "zoombombing", a word surely set to take its place alongside self-isolation in post-virus dictionaries. It would be best if you thought twice about sticking with Zoom for the following reasons.
You might be surprised by Zoom's data collection policies if you haven't taken the time to review them. They collect and share email addresses, as well as information uploaded during video conferences and chats. It's even worse if you signed up for Zoom through your Facebook or Google account, which gives Zoom access to any data collected by those companies. Although Zoom offers a form of end-to-end encryption E2EE for your meetings, it isn't enabled by default.
Unless you enable it, your conference will only utilize Zoom's "enhanced encryption," a much less secure protocol. That's when criminals try to unlock accounts by re-using credentials from accounts compromised in previous data breaches. It works only if an account holder uses the same password for more than one account. Researchers from IngSights discovered a set of 2, Zoom login credentials being shared in a criminal online forum. Maor told Threatpost opens in new tab it didn't seem like the credentials came from a Zoom data breach, given their relatively small number.
It's also possible that some of the credentials were the result of "credential stuffing. Information-security researchers know of several Zoom "zero-day" exploits opens in new tab , according to Vice. Zero-days are exploits for software vulnerabilities that the software maker doesn't know about and hasn't fixed, and hence has "zero days" to prepare before the exploits appear.
However, one Vice source implied that other video-conferencing solutions also had security flaws. Another source said that Zoom zero-days weren't selling for much money due to lack of demand.
Criminals are trading compromised Zoom accounts on the "dark web," Yahoo News opens in new tab reported. This information apparently came from Israeli cybersecurity firm Sixgill, which specializes in monitoring underground online-criminal activity. We weren't able to find any mention of the findings on the Sixgill website opens in new tab. Sixgill told Yahoo it had spotted compromised Zoom accounts that included meeting IDs, email addresses, passwords and host keys.
Some of the accounts belonged to schools, and one each to a small business and a large healthcare provider, but most were personal. If you have a Zoom account, make sure its password isn't the same as the password for any other account you have. Researchers at Trend Micro opens in new tab discovered a version of the Zoom installer that has been bundled with cryptocurrency-mining malware , i. The Zoom installer will put Zoom version 4. By the way, the latest Zoom client software for Windows is up to version 4.
The coin-miner will ramp up your PC's central processor unit, and its graphics card if there is one, to solve mathematical problems in order to generate new units of cryptocurrency. To avoid getting hit with this malware, make sure you're running one of the best antivirus programs, and don't click on any links in emails, social media posts or pop-up messages that promise to install Zoom on your machine. It can't stop other people from copying and redistributing its installation software.
Not only does Zoom mislead users about its "end-to-end encryption" see further down , but its seems to be flat-out, um, not telling the truth about the quality of its encryption algorithm. Zoom says it use AES encryption to encode video and audio data traveling between Zoom servers and Zoom clients i. But researchers at the Citizen Lab opens in new tab at the University of Toronto, in a report posted April 3, found that Zoom actually uses the somewhat weaker AES algorithm.
Even worse, Zoom uses an in-house implementation of encryption algorithm that preserves patterns from the original file. It's as if someone drew a red circle on a gray wall, and then a censor painted over the red circle with a while circle. You're not seeing the original message, but the shape is still there. Yuan opens in new tab acknowledged the encryption issue but said only that "we recognize that we can do better with our encryption design" and "we expect to have more to share on this front in the coming days.
In Zoom's announcement of the upcoming April 26 desktop-software update, Zoom said it would be upgrading the encryption implementation opens in new tab to a better format for all users by May Good software has built-in anti-tampering mechanisms to make sure that applications don't run code that's been altered by a third party. Zoom has such anti-tampering mechanisms in place, which is good.
But those anti-tampering mechanisms themselves are not protected from tampering, said a British computer student who calls himself " Lloyd opens in new tab " in a blog post April 3.
Needless to say, that's bad. Lloyd showed how Zoom's anti-tampering mechanism can easily be disabled, or even replaced with a malicious version that hijacks the application. If you're reading this with a working knowledge of how Windows software works, this is a pretty damning passage: "This DLL can be trivially unloaded, rendering the anti-tampering mechanism null and void.
The DLL is not pinned, meaning an attacker from a 3rd party process could simply inject a remote thread. In other words, malware already present on a computer could use Zoom's own anti-tampering mechanism to tamper with Zoom.
Criminals could also create fully working versions of Zoom that have been altered to perform malicious acts.
Anyone can "bomb" a public Zoom meeting if they know the meeting number, and then use the file-share photo to post shocking images, or make annoying sounds in the audio. The FBI even warned about it opens in new tab a few days ago. The host of the Zoom meeting can mute or even kick out troublemakers, but they can come right back with new user IDs. The best way to avoid Zoom bombing is to not share Zoom meeting numbers with anyone but the intended participants.
You can also require participants to use a password to log into the meeting. On April 3, the U. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said that "anyone who hacks into a teleconference can be charged with state or federal crimes.
Zoom automatically puts everyone sharing the same email domain into a "company" folder where they can see each other's information. Exceptions are made for people using large webmail clients such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or Outlook. Several Dutch Zoom users who use ISP-provided email addresses suddenly found that they were in the same "company" with dozens of strangers -- and could see their email addresses, user names and user photos.
STATUS: Unresolved, but an April 19 Zoom software update opens in new tab for Zoom web-interface users makes sure users on the same email domain can no longer automatically search for each other by name. The Zoom desktop client software will get similar fixes April Several privacy experts, some working for Consumer Reports, pored over Zoom's privacy policy and found that it apparently gave Zoom the right to use Zoom users' personal data and to share it with third-party marketers.
Following a Consumer Reports opens in new tab blog post, Zoom quickly rewrote its privacy policy, stripping out the most disturbing passages and asserting that "we do not sell your personal data. We don't know the details of Zoom's business dealings with third-party advertisers. You can find open Zoom meetings opens in new tab by rapidly cycling through possible Zoom meeting IDs, a security researcher told independent security blogger Brian Krebs.
The researcher got past Zoom's meeting-scan blocker by running queries through Tor, which randomized his IP address. It's a variation on "war driving" by randomly dialing telephone numbers to find open modems in the dial-up days. The researcher told Krebs that he could find about open Zoom meetings every hour with the tool, and that "having a password enabled on the [Zoom] meeting is the only thing that defeats it.
Two Twitter opens in new tab users opens in new tab pointed out that if you're in a Zoom meeting and use a private window in the meeting's chat app to communicate privately with another person in the meeting, that conversation will be visible in the end-of-meeting transcript the host receives. A Kurdish security researcher opens in new tab said Zoom paid him a bug bounty -- a reward for finding a serious flaw -- for finding how to hijack a Zoom account if the account holder's email address was known or guessed.
The researcher, who calls himself "s3c" but whose real name may be Yusuf Abdulla, said if he tried to log into Zoom with a Facebook account, Zoom would ask for the email address associated with that Facebook account. Then Zoom would open a new webpage notifying him that a confirmation email message had been sent to that email address.
The URL of the notification webpage would have a unique identification tag in the address bar. As an example that's much shorter than the real thing, let's say it's "zoom. When s3c received and opened the confirmation email message sent by Zoom, he clicked on the confirmation button in the body of the message. This took him to yet another webpage that confirmed his email address was now associated with a new account. So far, so good. But then s3c noticed that the unique identification tag in the Zoom confirmation webpage's URL was identical to the first ID tag.
Let's use the example "zoom. The matching ID tags, one used before confirmation and the other after confirmation, meant that s3c could have avoided receiving the confirmation email, and clicking on the confirmation button, altogether. In fact, he could have entered ANY email address -- yours, mine or billgates gmail. Then he could have copied the ID tag from the resulting Zoom notification page and pasted the ID tag into an already existing Zoom account-confirmation page.
And because Zoom lets anyone using a company email address view all other users signed up with the same email domain, e. Zoom is fortunate that s3c is one of the good guys and didn't disclose this flaw publicly before Zoom could fix it.
But it's such a simple flaw that it's hard to imagine no one else noticed it before. Zoom has released updates for its Windows , macOS and Linux desktop client software so that meeting IDs will not display onscreen during meetings.
Yuan opens in new tab said that Zoom had discovered "a potential security vulnerability with file sharing, so we disabled that feature. Until this week, participants in a Zoom meeting could share files with each other using the meeting's chat function. Those AES encryption keys are issued to Zoom clients by Zoom servers, which is all well and good, except that the Citizen Lab opens in new tab found several Zoom servers in China issuing keys to Zoom users even when all participants in a meeting were in North America.
Since Zoom servers can decrypt Zoom meetings, and Chinese authorities can compel operators of Chinese servers to hand over data, the implication is that the Chinese government might be able to see your Zoom meetings. That's got to be bad news for the British government, which has held at least one Cabinet meeting over Zoom. Yuan opens in new tab responded to the Citizen Lab report by saying that "it is possible certain meetings were allowed to connect to systems in China, where they should not have been able to connect.
We have since corrected this. Zoom advises meeting hosts to set up "waiting rooms" to avoid "Zoom bombing. The Citizen Lab said it found a serious security issue with Zoom waiting rooms opens in new tab , and advised hosts and participants to not use them for now. The Citizen Lab is not disclosing the details yet, but has told Zoom of the flaw.
In a follow-up to their initial report opens in new tab. Zoom meetings have side chats in which participants can sent text-based messages and post web links.
That left Zoom chats vulnerable to attack. Audio Signature embeds a user's personal information into the audio as an inaudible watermark if they record during a meeting. If the audio file is shared without permission, Zoom can help identify which participant recorded the meeting. Users authenticating with username and password can also enable two-factor authentication 2FA as an additional layer of security to sign in.
Zoom can map attributes to provision a user to a different group with feature controls.
Zoom security issues: What's gone wrong and what's been fixed | Tom's Guide - What are our main security concerns regarding Zoom?
5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Use Zoom Anymore - 1. Zoom-Bombing
It uses bit AES encryption to protect your data. Zoom also has optional end-to-end encryption , which offers even more security. But keep in mind that enabling it requires you to meet certain requirements you need to use the desktop or mobile app, or Zoom Rooms.
Also, enabling end-to-end encryption disables some features like Polling, Breakout Rooms, and Live streaming. True, Zoom had a vulnerability that would have allowed hackers to compromise meetings and steal shared data. But that issue was discovered by security researchers and disclosed to Zoom, which immediately fixed it with an update. For example, it can only secure your data when you use its service. Hackers often use malware to infect your device in an attempt to compromise your Zoom connections and other traffic.
The best way to protect yourself against malicious software is to use an antivirus program. You can also consider our Breach Readiness Assessment to evaluate if your business is prepared to deal with a cyber-attack.
Show comments. Contact us. Date: 17 June Like this article? Share it with others! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Get Email Updates on our Latest News. Simply enter you details in the form below to subscribe:. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Drop us a line on: info cm-alliance. Related posts. Simply fill in your details to request a free callback:. Sign up to our Newsletter:. Last year, Zoom made the sensible move to turn password protection on by default.
But just to be clear, your zoom account password and meeting password are not the same — they are two different passwords. You should also avoid reusing meeting passwords. While you may find that the quality of your video call is better on the app, the web browser version gets security enhancements much faster.
And aside from the updates, the web version is still more secure. That's because it lives in a browser's sandbox, meaning it has far fewer permissions and a reduced ability to cause issues across your entire operating system. When you click a link to join a meeting, your browser will open a new tab and prompt you to use or install the Zoom desktop software.
But in the fine print, there's a link to "join from your browser. So, there you have it; providing you take the right preventative measures and only use Zoom where it is appropriate, you should be okay. Netitude has been delivering secure, reliable and productive IT for business growth, since If your business needs advice, additional IT support or business technology solutions, get in touch with one of our experts today, we're always happy to help!
Skip to content. One year on, is Zoom safe to use? It did, however, introduce a fix in late to ensure that conversational data is protected at all layers of the app. These are the security issues that plagued Zoom in recent years. Zoom is a relatively safer app today after various security updates were introduced. You can now use the features in Zoom security settings to prevent unwanted intrusion, safeguard user privacy, maintain control and hold orderly meetings.
A waiting room holds all participants and allows you to vet each individual before allowing access. As an admin, you have control over pre-meeting, in-meeting, and in-webinar security. For example, Zoom allows you to disable private chat, annotation, mute participants, and control screen sharing to take charge of the meeting.
Despite the various Zoom security features, it pays to secure Zoom meetings with additional protection, such as a VPN.
As a still-evolving app, the probability of security experts uncovering more vulnerabilities in the app is high. Using a VPN provides an encrypted communication channel that protects Zoom communication from spies and hackers. Zoom does not steal your data in the literal sense, but it does collect and share your data with third parties.
It was found to share personal data with Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other publishers without prior consent. While there were no large-scale attacks, cybersecurity researchers found multiple vulnerabilities that might lead to man-in-the-middle attacks. Such attacks involve hackers stealthily interjecting themselves into ongoing Zoom sessions and intercepting sensitive data. Zoom publishes a list of known vulnerabilities with their respective severity scores, description, and possible impact on users.
- Security | Zoom
Zoom's popularity has soared, largely thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. In December , it reported 10 million users. By April , that rose to million. Its stock price increased by more than percent over the course of the year. It has now become an essential app for businesses, groups of socially-distant friends, and even entire families. But is Zoom safe?
Stories about the app's security and privacy issues have been lurking throughout its rise. Let's take a closer look at some of the biggest Zoom security concerns you need to know about. Yes, Zoom-bombing is a thing. Much like photo-bombing, which sees people insert themselves into unsuspecting people's snaps, Zoom-bombing refers to the practice of users logging into Zoom calls that they were not invited to.
But how is Zoom-bombing possible? Zoom uses a unique meeting ID number for every chat on its platform. The number is between nine and 11 digits long and is used to get access to a conference. However, meeting ID numbers can be easily guessed. As a result, pranksters are joining calls and creating havoc using features such as screen sharing. At best, it's very annoying.
At worst, it compromises your data, especially if you are on a confidential business call. The solution is simple—set a password for every Zoom call you participate in. Zoom has also introduced a way to suspend participants' activities, meaning you can boot imposters out of your call.
Read our comprehensive guide to Zoom-bombing to learn more. If you want to use Zoom on a desktop machine, you have two options: the desktop app or the web app. You should always use the web browser version; this gets new security enhancements much faster than the desktop app.
And aside from the updates, the web version is still more secure. That's because it lives in a browser's sandbox, meaning it has far fewer permissions and a reduced ability to cause issues across your entire operating system.
If you'd prefer to use an app for Zoom, consider Skype for Business. It has a secure Zoom integration. At the start of , Zoom heavily advertised its end-to-end encryption as a key feature. In theory, that means that all communications between you and the other people in your chat would only be visible to those parties; nobody could decrypt them. The claims were quickly shown to be false. Data was encrypted, but only between you and the Zoom servers.
While that means that snoopers and local hackers on your public Wi-Fi network would not be able to see your calls, Zoom employees could see everything. Therefore, if a government or law enforcement agency were to request access to your chats, they could easily get them. In late October , Zoom did finally roll out true end-to-end encryption, but the entire episode left a bad taste and showed Zoom could not be trusted as a business.
Head to Settings and toggle Allow use of end-to-end encryption to enable the feature. The Zoom installer has been widely copied and redistributed. Many of those redistributions had malware bundled in with the installer in an attempt to trick unsuspecting users.
The most famous example is the cryptocurrency-mining malware that was found in Zoom installers in April If installed, it would eat through your CPU and GPU in a bid to mine Bitcoin, leaving you with little free power to do anything else on your machine. This flaw isn't Zoom's fault. But it shows how hackers will target anything that's "hot" at a given moment and exploit it. To protect yourself, make sure you only ever download Zoom from the company's official site.
When you hear the phrase "leaked passwords," you probably assume the service provider is at fault. However, in this example, Zoom is not to blame. According to an academic paper from the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, people on your Zoom call could theoretically tell what you are typing by watching the movements in your arms and shoulders. All the hacker would need to do is record your call in p and then feed it through a computer program that strips the background.
By monitoring your arms and shoulders relative to your head, they would be able to tell exactly what keystrokes you had made. The lesson? Never log into your accounts while on a call. If you do need to enter a password, you should briefly disable your video feed while you type.
Wearing sleeves, covering your shoulders, and touch-typing with 10 fingers also increases the difficulty of this method for hackers.
Zoom has a long list of security flaws. Many of them have now been fixed, but it raises the question of how many more undiscovered vulnerabilities are still available for hackers to exploit. Here's a quick rundown of some of the most headline-worthy Zoom flaws and security breaches in alone:. If you need more information, check out our list of ways to make your Zoom calls more secure.
Given all the Zoom security issues, should you think about using an alternative instead? Sadly, it's not so simple. Firstly, Zoom is far from being the only video conferencing app with security issues. Services such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex have all received flack from security experts over privacy concerns. Secondly, Zoom is now the most popular video conferencing app by some distance. All the people you want to talk to will be on the platform. Much like leaving Facebook or WhatsApp, you won't be able to enjoy the same level of communication with friends and colleagues if you use a different app.
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