Zoom video meeting platform not safe, warns govt, issues advisory

New Delhi: The government on Thursday warned that the video conferencing app Zoom, which has been in the middle of a controversy over security issues, is not a safe platform and should not be used by government offices or officials.

Government’s nodal cyber-security agency CERT-India also issued an advisory that said, ''Zoom is a not a safe platform and advisory of CERT-IN on the same dated Feb 06, 2020, and March 30, 2020, may kindly be referred. These advisories are available on the CERT-IN website.''

''Those private individuals who still would like to use Zoom for the private purposes may kindly follow the following guidelines,'' the advisory said.

India’s nodal cyber-security agency had earlier warned users of the video-conferencing app that it was prone to breaches. This came following instances of leaked passwords and hackers hijacking video calls midway through conferences.

As per CERT-IN, the guidelines are aimed to prevent unauthorised entry in the conference room, prevent an authorised participant to carry out malicious activities on the terminals of others in the conference and avoid DOS attacks by restricting users through passwords and access grant.

Most of the settings can be done by login into user's zoom account at the website or installed application at PC/Laptop/Phone and also during the conduct of the conference. However certain settings are possible through certain mode/channel only.

Zoom, a video-conferencing service created for corporate webinars and meetings, has grown rapidly during the coronavirus outbreak.

With the number of daily users exploding from 10 million to 200 million from December to March, it has become a forum for nearly every kind of social function, including happy hours, yoga sessions, school classes, funeral services as well as Passover, Easter and (soon) Ramadan rituals.

However, hackers and trolls have crashed meetings, flashing porn or racist slurs on screens, triggering concerns about safety and privacy. 

Earlier this month, Google warned employees not to use Zoom’s desktop application on their work computers “due to privacy and security vulnerabilities.” SpaceX, the U.S. Senate and New York City’s school district have enacted similar restrictions.