Zoom, a video conferencing app has been in the news consistently over the past few months for many privacy issues.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently said the meeting app is not a safe platform for video conference, issuing a set of guidelines for the safety of users who “still would like to use Zoom for a private purpose”. According to the advisory, MHA believes Zoom is an unsafe platform. Thus, the centre is asking the app users to follow specific security settings in a bid to protect their meetings from mischievous attackers.
The government said these steps would prevent unauthorised entry in the conference room and even malicious activity by authorised participants on terminals of the other participants. It would also avoid DDOS attack by restricting users through passwords and access grant.
Now, Zoom App has replied to the Government of India that it takes its users safety very seriously.
“A large number of global institutions ranging from the world’s largest financial services companies and telecommunications providers to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and government agencies, have carried out exhaustive security reviews of our user, network and datacenter layers,” a Zoom spokesperson was quoted as saying by Financial Express Online. They “continue to use Zoom for most or all of their unified communications needs,” the spokesperson added.
Another spokesperson reaffirmed of the same while talking to HT Tech.
The nodal cybersecurity agency, Computer Emergency Response Team of India (Cert-In) recently raised concerns about Zoom being prone to cyberattacks. The government has issued an advisory for the users of Zoom to use security features such as Scheduling Privilege and Waiting Rooms while using the application.
Meanwhile, search engine giant Google has banned the app from all its employees’ computers. Singapore has also expelled teachers using this app after hackers posted obscene images on screens. The app has also been banned in Germany and Taiwan.
As the use of Zoom app has hugely grown during the lockdown amid the novel coronavirus, with millions working from home and social gatherings avoided, Zoom has become a favourite pastime of many.
