Google bans employees from using Zoom video conferencing over security issues

Google has reportedly banned its employees from using the Zoom video conferencing software. The company has sent an email to its employees who had the Zoom app installed on their work laptops.

Zoom has been in the news for the right and wrong reasons. While the video conferencing software has been in demand due to the work from home policy in several countries owing to coronavirus, there have been several reports citing security concerns on the platform.

In its email, Google has stated that the Zoom app will stop working on their laptops this week, citing ‘security vulnerabilities.’ 

“We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network,” Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, told BuzzFeed News. Google has its own video conferencing app called ‘Meet’, a direct competitor to Zoom.

“Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.”

Zoom’s popularity has grabbed the eyeballs of many, including security researchers and hackers. A recent report claimed that the Zoom app on iOS and iPad OS sent user data to Facebook, which was then fixed via an update the next day. Another report highlighted the misleading end-to-end encryption marketing by Zoom, wherein only text and not video calls were encrypted.

Recently, a BARC webinar was hacked by miscreants, who posted abusive messages on the participants' chat window. 

Zoom, in its defence, said that it plans to fix all security-related issues within 90 days. The company is also freezing all security-related features.