Zoom’s fate changed overnight when strict work from home rules were put in place amidst the global pandemic outbreak – COVID-19. Immediately, Zoom witnessed a huge influx of users on its platform that would later cost Zoom millions in damages.
Zoom’s Overnight Success – A Security Dilemma
From the beginning, Zoom was never equipped with the infrastructure to facilitate millions of users at a given time. As the app witnessed an increasing surge in its userbase, Zoom hurried to invest in securing its critical infrastructure, but security vulnerabilities led to a class-action lawsuit.
Zoom just lost an $85 million class-action lawsuit for employing poor cybersecurity, a clear reminder that even the most popular and heavily relied-upon applications can too have inadequate security measures in place.
“This large Zoom settlement should be a wake-up call to not only all software and service providers but also for the enterprises that use them. The only answer is a comprehensive security posture.” – Emil Sayegh, president and CEO of Ntirety.
As with any popular app, Zoom also drew attention to security, and in March 2020, Zoom found itself under hot waters for misrepresenting its security. Zoom claims of offering users end-to-end encryption were rebutted as video conferences were frequently hacked as what later referred to as ‘zoombombing.’
Get to know if Zoom is safe to use.
Zoombombings were a prevalent issue for a long time, where hackers would hack a particular video call and insert explicit images, raising serious questions about the app’s security. This received widespread criticism and a shift towards a rival app, Google Meet.
In the midst of all this, it came to light that Zoom’s iOS app was sharing analytics with Facebook without disclosing the fact to users.
According to Zoom’s official spokesperson:
“The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and we take the trust our user’s place in us seriously. We are proud of the advancements we have made to our platform and look forward to continuing to innovate with privacy and security at the forefront.”
According to the ruling of the $85 million settlement, unsubscribed US users could get $15 while users with a Zoom subscription could get $25. Zoom will also have to incur $21 million in legal fees.
Although the lawsuit is just 4% of Zoom’s reported $2.65 billion revenue for the previous year, the settlement does send a strong signal within the industry to take cybersecurity seriously.
PureVPN
June 20, 2023
10 months ago
