Zoom has promised to improve security and privacy, but an increasing number of organizations have decided to ban the video conferencing application over security concerns.
Zoom’s popularity has skyrocketed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, but that popularity has also attracted the attention of many cybersecurity experts, who have identified numerous security and privacy issues. Zoom’s popularity has also attracted hackers, who have been abusing security weaknesses to join meetings and make threats, show pornographic images, or shout profanities and other offensive messages.
The company has been working on patching identified vulnerabilities and addressing privacy concerns, and on April 1 it promised to make significant improvements, including by conducting a comprehensive security review, enhancing its bug bounty program, and launching a CISO council.
The company announced on Wednesday that it has created its CISO Council, which includes CISOs from several companies, including NTT Data, HSBC, Ellie Mae, and Procore. The CISO Council also includes an advisory board that will act as advisors to Zoom’s CEO, Eric Yuan. Initial advisors include representatives of Uber, VMware, Netflix and EA.
“The purpose of the CISO Council will be to engage with us in an ongoing dialogue about privacy, security, and technology issues and best practices — to share ideas, and collaborate,” Yuan said.
Zoom also announced that Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former CSO, has joined the company as an outside advisor. Stamos will help Zoom implement better security controls and practices.
While Zoom has promised to improve things in terms of security and privacy, an increasing number of organizations have announced that they are banning the app over security concerns.
Google has told employees that they cannot use Zoom on corporate computers as it does not meet its security standards. SpaceX, whose employees have been using the tool for conferences and meeting support, has also banned Zoom.
The use of Zoom has also been banned entirely or in certain agencies by the governments of Taiwan, Germany and Australia.
In the United States, the New York City Department of Education has already prohibited the use of Zoom in schools, and other school districts are likely to follow suit.
Zoom faces two lawsuits for previously sharing user data with Facebook, and Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that an investor has filed a class action lawsuit over various security and privacy issues.
The value of Zoom stock has seen a steady decline since April 1.
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