Things seem to be moving fast at Zoom, specially since a gamut of privacy and security issues have come into light. In response to all the controversies surrounding its platform, Zoom has hired former Facebook Security Chief Alex Stamos as an advisor on account of security issues faced by the videoconferencing service company amidst its growing popularity.
After being banned by several organisations and having a class action law suit filed against it, the company has also embarked on a 90 day plan and has set up consultative bodies that will work towards curbing the issue.
Despite stiff competition from Microsoft Teams and Cisco’s WebEx, the company experienced an unprecedented surge in its consumer base during the ongoing coronavirus lock-downs. Schools and organisations turned to Zoom due to the convenience offered facilitating meetings and classes online. The app is ranked as top pick among all free apps on the Apple App Store ahead of Google, Tiktok and Whatsapp.
However after instances of “zoombombing” or users crashing meetings, several entities have banned or restricted the usage of the service. Worried about the end-to-end encryption of sessions conducted through the service and routing of traffic through China, SpaceX, NASA and NYC schools have entirely banned the app and Germany and Taiwan have placed restrictions on its usage.
As a response to the ardent criticism it faced, the company hired Alex Stamos as an advisor. Stamos handled Facebook’s security until 2018 and is now an adjunct professor at Stanford’s Freeman-Spogli Institute. “Zoom has some important work to do in core application security, cryptographic design and infrastructure security and I’m looking forward to working with Zoom’s engineering teams on those projects” Stamos wrote in a blog post.
Inviting Stamos on board is a part of the 90 day plan that the company has embarked on. “Over the next 90 days, we are committed to dedicating the resources needed to better identify, address and fix issues proactively. We are also committed to being transparent through this process.” said Zoom in a blog post announcing the actions it is taking.
To address issues regarding security and technology a CISO Council which comprising of Chief Security Officers of HSBC, NTT Data, Procore and Ellie Mae has been set up. A weekly webinar conducted by the company reports progress regarding privacy issues.
“Collaboration across the industry is one of the most effective ways to ensure we are implementing security and privacy best practices” said the company. Within the CISO Council, an advisory board including security chiefs of VMware, Netflix, Uber and Electronic Arts has been set up. This body will advise Eric Yuan personally. The CEO and founder has pledged to do better on the security front.
As the quarantined populace turned to the app as a tool to aid teleworking and e-learning, the company’s stocks notched up record highs in March. But that bull run was short-lived. Zoom’s shares have plummeted since the wave of media reports addressing the privacy issues. The class action law suit was also filed by a shareholder. These recent concerns have shaved about 30% of the company’s stock.
