Thousands of Zoom video calls left exposed on open Web, MSN
“Thousands of personal Zoom videos have been left viewable on the open Web, highlighting the privacy risks to millions of Americans as they shift many of their personal interactions to video calls in an age of social distancing. Videos viewed by The Washington Post included one-on-one therapy sessions; a training orientation for workers doing telehealth calls that included people’s names and phone numbers; small-business meetings that included private company financial statements; and elementary-school classes, in which children’s faces, voices and personal details were exposed. Many of the videos include personally identifiable information and deeply intimate conversations, recorded in people’s homes.”
Zoom: We’re freezing all new features to sort out security and privacy, ZDNet
“US space agency NASA has also banned employees from using Zoom. Yesterday, researchers detailed two new security bugs found in the Zoom app. The Zoom Windows client was leaking network credentials due to the app rendering UNC file paths as a clickable link in group chat windows.”
This article in Popular Mechanics discusses the risk, much of which is the result of users not using passwords to protect meetings or other basic cybersecurity practices. This article below outlines a number of things folks may do to be safe both on Zoom and other teleconference software.
Also, as someone who has been working remotely since the late 1990’s I would recomend IT departments take a look at the various Course Management Systems like Blackboard and WebCanvas for remote work. Because of federal privacy regulations universities are required to follow they are designed to allow synchronous and asynchronous work in a user controlled environment without exposing it to the cloud and with strong barriers to hackers. We do all of our committee, planning and business meetings on it at the university I teach at. Both are very easy systems to use.
https://www.popularmechanic…
How Safe Is Zoom?
The popular video conferencing app has been a godsend during the era of social distancing. But it also puts your privacy at risk.
By Kristina Libby
Apr 3, 2020
This is also a good reminder from the article.
“The weakest link has always been the human user of a product, from letting the trojan horse into Troy to Phishing and Pharming attacks,” says Amir Orad, a cybersecurity expert and CEO of Sisense. “Zoom can definitely help with better default configurations of its software, but if you run a virtual event, you should also master the use of the product.”
“Zoom can definitely help with better default configurations of its software, but if you run a virtual event, you should also master the use of the product.”
That may be an inherent problem for Zoom. I get the impression this goes against one of their selling points. Isn’t it supposed to be so easy to use that people _don’t_ need to be masters of the product? That it’s easy to use right out of the box and without reading the manual?
I think so. I received an email from the organizer, by simply clicking on the link, it installs the software, connects/tests the audio & video and just like that, you are watching and talking to half a dozen of your friends on the screen. I do not understand what sensitive information could be compromised from the BS we are spewing at each other, though. But, I’m sure it’s possible. You never know. Ha.
According to a story on the Verge (today, April 8th):
There was a problem discovered in last July, about how “a macOS flaw allowed a Zoom URL to forcibly activate a MacBook webcam.” More recently (since the increase in use due to COVID-19) there have been problems due to “the ease with which random strangers can locate and jump into Zoom calls. The practice is now known as “Zoombombing…” Further, “Other issues have included exposed Zoom recordings, undisclosed data sharing with Facebook, exposed LinkedIn profiles, and a “malware-like” installer for macOS.” For what it’s worth, that was from an article on Google banning the use of Zoom on company machines, and Google does offer competing, videoconferencing software.