Popular video conferencing app Zoom has made plans to strengthen encryption on video calls hosted by paying clients and institutions according to a statement from a company official on Friday.
It plans to implement an end-to-end model, which invariably means that only participants can see what is happening, as people who try to join from a telephone line will be excluded.
In an interview, Zoom security consultant Alex Statmos confirmed that this move was discussed on a call with civil liberties group and that the plan was still subject to change for the time being. He also added that a combination of safety, technological and business factors were also taken into consideration while drawing up this plan.
In recent times, the video conferencing app has attracted millions of users (free and paying) this pandemic, largely due to the fact that users can join a meeting without necessarily needing to register. This however has led to uninvited guests interrupting meetings in an act that is described as “zoombombing”.
Zoom hired Statmos after a series of security breaches forced some institutions to ban its use. Statmos made it clear that the company is taking every possible step to improve security, as it seeks to upgrade trust and safety.
This new move from Zoom strongly divides opinion between technology and security experts, with certain individuals believing that this technology should be offered more widely while others believe that it should just be in the hands of a select few for the time being.
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