How to keep video calls safe with Zoom
We'll tell you how safe it is to use Zoom and what actions can help protect your video calls.
In an open letter to all Zoom users, CEO Eric Yuan revealed that Zoom peaked at 10 million daily members in December 2019. In March 2020, their number exceeded 200 million. Now the company is working hard to keep up with this unexpected growth: it expands the security measures of the service and optimizes it taking into account the growth in the number of users.
Some cities, such as New York , have banned the use of Zoom for distance learning due to security vulnerabilities. Zoom was originally conceived for and used by corporate clients only. For the most part, the security and privacy of participants were monitored by the IT departments of these companies. But due to recent events, tens of millions of people have turned to Zoom for just about everything: work meetings, school classes, religious gatherings, and just social gatherings.
As the number of users grew, so did the attention to the program. Citizen Lab, a laboratory at the University of Toronto, conducted an in- depth study of the service's security and found that its encryption methods required modernization. They concluded that Zoom's security systems are not sufficient for use by government officials who are worried about espionage, or professionals who work with sensitive topics, but “those who use Zoom to stay in touch with friends, hold social events or organize courses and lectures that would normally be held in public or conventionally public places, our conclusions should not cause concern. " check your social media score
All authority over security in Zoom conferences rests with the call organizer. Zoom's safety controls are intuitive, so you can easily take action to prevent zumbomboom and other risks. Moreover, last week the service released an update that eliminates, according to the developers, the problem of "zumbombing".
Below are tips on how to securely and set up Zoom for social gatherings.
Always generate a random conference ID
PMI is like your personal endless conference, your virtual space, so think twice before sharing it with anyone.
Don't share the conference ID on social media
We do not recommend announcing conference details over public communication channels.
Always ask for a password
Zoom recently released an update and now requires a password by default for Personal Meeting IDs, any scheduled meetings, and so on. You no longer need to do this manually, and uninvited guests will not be able to enter, including people who have nothing else to do but iterate over random IDs in the hope of finding an open conference.
Understand video settings
You can choose whether to use the video or not. If you decide to use it, find out what your camera sees before you join the conference so that you don't have to blush later.
Waiting room: the court did not give a final verdict
At its core, the waiting room is a useful feature. It's like a face control at the entrance to a club where your members gather, who you can let in one by one or all together.
In a recent update, the Lounge feature is enabled by default.
Check out the organizer controls
Being aware of the host's controls is helpful in case unwanted people enter your conference. The host can mute attendees' microphones, mute their videos, decide who is allowed to share the screen, and kick people out of the room. Also, organizers can now select the region of servers that will be used for video communication.
For more information on how to secure your meetings, check out the recommendations on the Zoom blog . The company's CEO Eric Yuan admitted the security flaws in an interview with CNN and promised to fix them. “We've learned our lesson,” he said. “And we will make a double or even triple effort to ensure privacy and security before we do anything else. We want Zoom to be a privacy and security first. ” fraud prevention
Considering that the number of daily users has exceeded 200 million, it seems that the company has an incentive and it will not take long. This means that online gatherings with friends are not canceled. Get your dose of human communication and social interaction.