Popular Video Conference Platform Zoom: ‘Zoom is malware,’ ‘a privacy disaster,’ and ‘a danger to national security’

By Greg Holt

(True Conservative Pundit)  Zoom users beware: the software reportedly acts as malware, is very insecure, and may well be spying on you.

 

Despite being a fairly new company, Zoom has gained immense popularity as the “go to” video conferencing platform.  Given the fact that many are working from home now due to the Coronavirus, one can imagine that video conferencing is a very popular tool now.

The popular Zoom is now beginning to make waves for many reasons, among them the software is more than a little insecure, as in their security is regarded as a joke.

According to Reuters, Elon Musk’s SpaceX banned its use after a report released via the FBI revealed that Zoom is unsecure, NASA has also banned its use.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston office on Monday issued a warning about Zoom, telling users not to make meetings on the site public or share links widely after it received two reports of unidentified individuals invading school sessions, a phenomenon known as “zoombombing.”

Unfortunately, Zoom is one of, if not the most important video conferencing platform out there, the implications of this are enormously bad.

The virus is forcing an unprecedented number of leaders and managers to work from home, across all sectors, in business and in government, everywhere. Sensitive meetings of course didn’t stop; they moved to new platforms. The most important platform today is Zoom.

— Thomas Rid (@RidT) April 1, 2020

Zoom also claimed(s) that their video software provides end-to-end encryption.  According to a report by The Intercept, such is not the case.  Additionally, Zoom can apparently help themselves to information provided during a teleconference for use in targeted ads – just like Facebook does.  In other words, they can spy on you and when you sign on the dotted line to use their product, you agree to this:

With millions of people around the world working from home in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, business is booming for Zoom, bringing more attention on the company and its privacy practices, including a policy, later updated, that seemed to give the company permission to mine messages and files shared during meetings for the purpose of ad targeting.

Still, Zoom offers reliability, ease of use, and at least one very important security assurance: As long as you make sure everyone in a Zoom meeting connects using “computer audio” instead of calling in on a phone, the meeting is secured with end-to-end encryption, at least according to Zoom’s website, its security white paper, and the user interface within the app. But despite this misleading marketing, the service actually does not support end-to-end encryption for video and audio content, at least as the term is commonly understood. Instead it offers what is usually called transport encryption, explained further below.

Adding to this nightmare, where do you suppose Zoom’s tech team resides?

CHINA.

Nearly one third of Zoom’s employees are in China (“more than 700”).

Yes, Zoom’s product development team is located in China.

Source: Zoom’s SEC filings (most recent 10-K). pic.twitter.com/DPagJfFexE

— Thomas Rid (@RidT) April 1, 2020

Zoom it is said is malware, and that basically means that the software has the capability to spy on you and/or cause damage to your computer.

Malware (a portmanteau for malicious software) is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network.

This “malware” also affects the more secure Mac computers unfortunately.

Let's make this simple: Zoom is malware. https://t.co/xkJDaP4OoK

— Arvind Narayanan (@random_walker) March 31, 2020

Using malware techniques seems part of Zoom's DNA. Recently Zoom was caught secretly installing web servers on users' machines that allowed any website to forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their camera on, without consent. https://t.co/vShpK40zxy

— Arvind Narayanan (@random_walker) March 31, 2020

So, to sum up: Zoom is malware, it spys on you, it is unsecure, and its tech people (may of them) reside in China.  Oh, and the boss can spy on you too.

The larger story is Zoom selling users out to appeal to its real customers: managers & companies. It tries hard to "just work"—crucial when there are 50 people on a call—even at the cost of acting like malware. And however misguided attention tracking is, there's a demand for it.

— Arvind Narayanan (@random_walker) March 31, 2020

Still think using Zoom is a good idea?

H/T Greg P. Twitchy

 

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