Zoom’s daily users increased from 10 million to 300 million in five months between December 2019 and April 2020. Naturally, growing pains were to be expected. However, reports of pranksters “meeting bombing” and data encryption issues have left some users wondering if Zoom is safe to use in 2022.
Fortunately, Zoom has made some major improvements to put you at ease.
Is Zoom a security risk?
No, Zoom isn’t a security risk. Zoom.us has addressed the cyber security issues it encountered in 2020 when pranksters were joining unlocked meetings. Ultimately, Zoom is now one of the most secure video conferencing tools currently available.
It’s also worth pointing out that the company is by no means the only Video Conferencing App to have encountered security issues. Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex and many more services have also had troubles surrounding security.
However, it’s clear Zoom has fixed their security issues.
Here are three key ways they’re enhancing security:
1. Encryption upgrades
Zoom recently upgraded to a 256-bit AES-GCM encryption. Essentially, this means any data transferred during meetings, chats, webinars and phone calls is strongly encrypted to ward off even the most advanced hackers.
In addition, they also offer a premium end-to-end encryption (E2EE) feature to further protect your user privacy.
2. Increased monitoring
The video conferencing company has also launched an At-Risk Meeting Notifier feature which constantly scans the internet for your video conference links.
Put simply, this means if someone’s leaked your meeting link onto any social media site or public forum, Zoom can notify you immediately.
3. Automated updates
Since last December, Zoom’s software for desktop devices allows you to enable automatic updates. This means you don’t have to worry about keeping up with Zoom’s latest security fixes–your computer will take care of it for you.
Zoom security best practices
While Zoom has fixed their security issues, there are still several things you can do to prevent meeting disruptions:
1. Lock your meetings
Just as you would lock your front door, get into the habit of locking Zoom Meeting once all attendees have joined. This way, even if an unwanted visitor did get hold of the meeting ID and passcode, they wouldn’t be able to enter the meeting.
To lock a meeting, click on the security icon and then hit “Lock Meeting”.
2. Kick out disruptive attendees
Another crucial feature Zoom has released to put an end to meeting bombing is the ability to remove disruptive or unwanted participants.
Conference hosts and admins are able to eject anyone from a video conference by clicking on the participants menu and pressing “Remove”.
By default, kicked attendees can’t rejoin the meeting. However, you can change your settings to allow kicked attendees to join a conference call again, should you accidentally remove the wrong person.
3. Setup two-factor authentication
In addition, Zoom is also tackling another security weakness. Two-factor authentication (or 2FA) is a process many businesses use to increase security during the account sign-in process. The user is sent a code via text message which they need to use in tandem with their account username and password to sign in.
This simple step greatly increases account security and wards off hackers who may otherwise try to infiltrate your employees accounts.
4. Restrict File Sharing Capabilities
Usually, users can share files in Zoom Chat. While this is a great feature for smaller or internal meetings, it’s risky to allow numerous users to share files, especially if you don’t know them. After all, such users could post malware or inappropriate content.
If you’re thinking of hosting a Zoom Webinar and expect many attendees, consider restricting file sharing capabilities. This way, you can control whether participants can share files, what type of files they can share, and maximum file size.
Get in touch with Qudini
Reach out to our team via the form below if you’d like to learn why we think Zoom is an amazing platform and are proud to integrate with Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars.
