Both the U.S. Senate and Google have banned members and employees from using video conferencing service Zoom. The moves come after two weeks of escalating privacy and security concerns about service that had grown in use amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, Taiwan joined Elon Musk’s SpaceX and New York City’s Department of Education in barring all official use of Zoom, becoming one of the first governments to impose an outright ban on the popular video-conferencing app over mounting security concerns.
Cybersecurity researchers have warned that security loopholes in the software could allow hackers to eavesdrop on meetings or commandeer machines to access secure files, and traffic from some users has been routed through data centers in China.
Mike Peterson for AppleInsider:
Because of those concerns, various government entities, private corporations and public organizations have banned its members from using the app — including both Google and at least one chamber of the U.S. Congress.
Ars Technica reports that the Senate sergeant-at-arms has warned senators against using the service. On Wednesday, Google also issued a ban on Zoom for employees, according to BuzzFeed News.
Both bans come just a few days after schools in New York City’s Department of Education barred teachers from using the app to teach students remotely. The FBI warned Americans last month of a practice called “Zoombombing,” which entails hijacking of video conferences by uninvited guests.
MacDailyNews Take: Zoom is the Facebook of teleconferencing.
It is my understanding that if you download the latest version, it is ok. It was previous versions that were hacked. Been using it for weeks….no issues.
Hope that continues…..
still would not trust it if the servers are in China and the Chinese government can access those servers.
Here’s a software opportunity for Apple – create a conferencing version of FaceTime and make it compatible with PCs for free.