The beginning of the lockdown period marked the rise of the videoconferencing app, Zoom. During the initial days of quarantine, Zoom seemed to make a fortune out of it. Every single meeting starting from attending online classes to professionals attending business conferences took place on this platform. But, after a month or so, the security system of Zoom was compromised. It became vulnerable to uninvited guests joining random meetings and causing disputes. To make Zoom’s videoconferencing platform secure enough, the company paused launching any new features thus devoting all time for its security. A few weeks back, Zoom announced about end-to-end encryption for its users. But, the company declared yesterday that the advantage is only for the paid users.
End-to-end encryption scheme of Zoom
After a bunch of meeting with investors, civil liberties groups, and child-sex abuse fighters, CEO of Zoom, Eric Yuan confirmed that the company will only provide end-to-end encryption for the paid customers. He says that it is important for the community to enforce the law for free calls. The users who just signed in with an email id didn’t go through a proper identity verification thus making Zoom vulnerable in the first place. So, the company finally announced and confirmed today about its new policy.
Eric also said that it is better to work along with the FBI as many users sign in with an abusive motive. After the pandemic spread across the world, Zoom became the most important video conferencing app. But, the business backfired as encryption became the main topic of concern. Jon Callas, a technologist said that Zoom’s compromise to get rid of the troublemakers is reasonable. Every one of us witnessed how the breach in the security system caused chaos among Zoom users.
Encryption plan and end-to-end model
The main reason behind lifting off end-to-end encryption for all users is that the criminals can easily get away with their illegal activities. But, there still exist controversial perspectives as some think it will affect the non-paid customers. Every cybercriminal is usually a non-paid user but not the other way around. But, the filtration process is tough when Zoom allowed millions of users to host and attend meetings only by singing with email id.
Zoom also hired Stamos, a former Chief Security Officer at Facebook. He says that apart from providing end-to-end encryption to paid users the platform is also upgrading its existing safety. The current end-to-end encryption is for paid customers and enterprise accounts as their profiles are highly scrutinized and verified.
The end-to-end model will reduce illegal activities to a large extent and make the platform more sophisticated and secure. But, the free participants will fall at a sharp rate which is not flattering from the business viewpoint. The end-to-end encryption is mainly provided in case of charged business or for the nonprofits. An outside spokesperson of the company has said that the encryption model is still in progress and it still hasn’t decided the final customer base.
Preventing child pornography and child sex abuse
Many videoconferencing platforms have faced shortcomings in its way. But, Zoom’s reputation got crushed when the degree of child-sex abuse increased via its platform. Many complaints have been launched that the sexual predators live steam abuse threatening child safety. So, strong encryption for every user will make it difficult for the police to find the culprits and easier for abusers to carry on their filthy work. It also threatens the security and privacy of users who exchange sensitive content. This might lead to harassment and future blackmailing.
Eric also focused on the fact that no user can simply dial into an encrypted meeting. So, there are high chances that many business clients will stop using the app as well. But, no matter what, Zoom will make law enforcement its top priority.
Conclusion
Amidst the stricter law enforcement, Zoom also announced that they don’t share information with law enforcement unless and until it is necessary, like child abuse. It still not possible for any random users to get into a meeting and get unnoticed. The end-to-end model is important to ensure child safety and protect future victims.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more