7 Reasons Why Zoom Is Unsafe For Video Calling; Why Govt Has Issued Warning?

Zoom, the video conferencing platform that has garnered quite the bad press in recent times. The platform has been accused of being a spyware app for China, the app has also been banned by the Taiwanese Government, and it has also been banned in the schools of New York.

India’s Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has also issued several warnings against the app. 

Why is the app so dangerous? Here are seven ways your meetings on Zoom could go wrong:

Zoom Conferences Can Be Hacked

It is quite easy for cybercriminals to hack ongoing meetings on Zoom. This has already happened when a meeting of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had to be canceled when fraudsters hacked into it.

Authorized Participants Can Also Indulge In Malicious Activity

Not only fraudsters, but authorized personnel is enabled to carry out any sort of malicious activity on the terminals of others in the video conference. CERT-In has alerted users against this sort of fraudulent activity.

Uninvited People Can Join In On Zoom Meetings

If not used with care and precautions, any uninvited people can join in on the meeting and steal any private and confidential information of you or your employer. 

Zoom Can Be Used for Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also warned users that Zoom may be used for Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. In fact, the government has also issued certain guidelines for people using Zoom to follow for protection against such attacks.

Confidential Data Might Be Leaked Through Recording Feature

Also, if not used with the proper safety precautions, your private and confidential information might also be stolen from you through the recording feature on your laptop. 

Zoom Doesn’t Have End To End Encryption

Another lack of security features in the Zoom video conferencing app is that the meetings aren’t encrypted end-to-end. As per reports, the security features on the app are similar to using web over HTTPS. This means that even if the connection is secure, the video calls can be decrypted by a third party.

Your Personal Emails And Photos Might Be Leaked

 A flaw with the app was previously discovered when the app had an issue with its ‘Company Directory’ setting that may have leaked user emails and photos.