Using Zoom App for Virtual Meeting and Online Classes: Beaware of Privacy issues

Whether you are a corporate employee, working from home or a student taking online classes, you must have come across some video conferencing apps to connect with your counterparts virtually. While you’re using them for your convenience, don’t compromise your privacy, warns Joydev, exclusively for Different Truths.

More than a third of the planet’s population is under lockdown or some kind of restrictions due to the global pandemic caused by the Novel Coronavirus. The lockdown has brought about a complete halt on the social life of people. Students across the globe are enjoying an unplanned vacation. Whether you are a corporate employee, working from home or a student taking online classes, you must have come across some video conferencing apps to connect with your counterparts virtually. Among others, the Zoom app has gained quite an importance these days because of its free services. After all, who does not want a service for free?

Reports say that the videoconferencing app Zoom, which served about 10 million users in December last year, saw a drastic surge of users, reaching about 200 million at the end of March. There are obvious reasons behind this gigantic rise in the use.

Reports say that the videoconferencing app Zoom, which served about 10 million users in December last year, saw a drastic surge of users, reaching about 200 million at the end of March. There are obvious reasons behind this gigantic rise in the use. First is the availability of the app free of cost, and second, it is extremely easy to use. We call it ‘frictionless’ in tech language. A person with zero technical knowledge can also join a Zoom meeting just by clicking a link, otherwise known as the invitation link.

The virtual meetings and classes were running fine until people started spotting glitches and infiltration of unknown people in the meetings. The weak security malware lets attackers hijack the meetings and also the web cameras, resulting in crashing the video meetings and leaking of information. This came to be known as ‘Zoombombarding’, where attackers used to send inappropriate materials in the group meetings or chats. Keeping all these issues on priority, the CEO of Zoom, Eric Yuan, apologised in a blog post last week and assured fixing all security concerns.

Let’s see how Zoombombarding affects us.

The onus to protect and secure those data completely lies with the Zoom. In its privacy policy, the company has not mentioned about sharing data with third parties, as they were clearly mentioned in other company’s privacy policies. This definitely is a notable omission.

Whenever you install and login to the Zoom app, you need to provide your email id

and some basic information. The onus to protect and secure those data completely lies with the Zoom. In its privacy policy, the company has not mentioned about sharing data with third parties, as they were clearly mentioned in other company’s privacy policies. This definitely is a notable omission. You never know how and who could use your mail id and other information. A research published by the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management says that tech companies can monetise user data in many ways without directly selling them.

Apart from the user information, Zoom has many security flaws too. Though the company has tried plugging its security holes, the security designs for Windows and Mac computers are still weak. This is largely because the app is directly available on the web to download, and is not provided through Apple’s official Mac app store or Microsoft Windows app store. And this is also the reason why it is quite easy to join and start.

Steps to Secure Your Video Meetings

In these unprecedented times of crisis, when you’re left with only countable options to connect with people around, you need to take your own precautions. The user-friendly and easy to access app Zoom has made many complicated meetings simple, hence getting away with it is definitely not the option for many. Using the app at your own risk, taking some simple steps will guard your privacy against a breach. Know what those steps are:

The user-friendly and easy to access app Zoom has made many complicated meetings simple, hence getting away with it is definitely not the option for many. Using the app at your own risk

Use the App on a Mobile: Using the Zoom app on a mobile device, like an Android device or an iPad is comparatively safer than using it on a Mac or Windows PC. Mobile apps generally have limited access to your data and operate in a restricted environment. App downloaded from Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store undergoes a review process that inspects security vulnerabilities.

Secure Passwords: It is advisable to use different and unique passwords for different meetings. If you’re a host, with an invitation link, send the password to only those whom you need to see in the meeting. Do not share your invitation link and meeting ID’s on social platforms. You definitely won’t like unnecessary guests Zoombombing your sessions. Would you?

Update the App: If you’ve installed the app before April 1st, you need to update the app to get more updated security. Zoom has updated its security walls and has also fixed the reported issues on April 1st.

Waiting rooms are the virtual spaces where you have to wait for sometime before actually starting the meeting. The host can screen each participant in the waiting room

Use Waiting Rooms: Waiting rooms are the virtual spaces where you have to wait for sometime before actually starting the meeting. The host can screen each participant in the waiting room and ensure no uninvited guests are waiting to spoil your party.

Manage Participants: If you’re the host of a meeting, ensure you’re the only host. Yes, some unnecessary people can also co-host the meeting which opens the door for attackers. Being a host, you can take control of the camera and mute options and also ensure that participants do not share their screens without approval.

Photos from the Internet