Statement From Zoom

Statement from Michael Chetner, Zoom's Head of APAC

Zoom takes user privacy, security, and trust extremely seriously.

Zoom was originally developed for enterprise use, and has been confidently selected for complete deployment by a large number of institutions globally, following security reviews of our user, network and datacenter layers.

As video-first communications becomes more popular and accessible, we feel a responsibility to help where we can. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working around-the-clock to ensure that universities, schools, and other organizations across the world can stay connected and operational.

As more and new kinds of users start using Zoom during this time, Zoom has been proactively engaging to make sure they understand Zoom's relevant policies, as well as the best ways to use the platform and protect their meetings.

We are proud of the role we are playing during this challenging time and committed to providing users with the tools they need.

How can users protect themselves from Zoom-bombing? (see infographic below)

There are some simple steps Zoom users can take to stop unwanted gatecrashers entering their Zoom meetings.

First of all, Zoom users are advised to not use their personal meeting ID for public meetings. For public meetings, new meetings with randomly generated meeting IDs should be scheduled - so that only invited attendees will know how to join a meeting.

Also don’t share your meeting ID’s publicly or on social media - you wouldn't share your phone number to a public audience, which is exactly the same thing.

For added security, users can also make use of the ‘waiting room’ setting, which allows the host to admit individual meeting participants into a meeting at their discretion.

Users should explore the security menu, which puts all essential security options in a single button, right in the in-meeting menu. Under this menu, Zoom users are able to lock their meeting and prevent any new meeting participants from joining.

Controlling who is able to screen share will also prevent unwanted interruptions during larger meetings. Zoom gives the host the ability to determine if they want other participants in the meeting, besides them, to be able to share their screens.

With the correct security and privacy settings, Zoom can be deployed in a safe and secure way.

And does Zoom offer end to end encryption, protecting users from data vulnerability?

Zoom encrypts all video, audio, screen sharing, and chat content and is encrypted the entire time it is transiting the Zoom system.

It’s important to note that when users join Zoom meetings using devices such as a phone (connected via traditional telephone line, rather than the app), Zoom’s encryption cannot be applied directly by that phone or device. This is the same for all phone calls when using all conferencing providers and not limited to just Zoom

For more detailed information, see here:

The Facts Around Zoom and Encryption for Meetings/Webinars

Our First 'Ask Eric Anything' Webinar Addresses Users' Security & Privacy Concerns