What’s All the Fuss About ZOOM?
Living Through the Age of Video Conferencing:
As the Coronavirus spikes across the globe, so is the usage of video conferencing platforms. With the whole world forced into self-quarantine and social distancing, video conferences have now become the new norm. This is how everyone stays connected and sane during these trying times. Be it a business conference, online yoga class or simply a call to your parents, the video conferencing trend is unlikely to end soon and will be continuing to grow.
In recent weeks platforms providing video conferencing features have blown up, take for example Zoom, March saw a 225% increase in Zoom connections compared to the previous month and data usage rose by a whopping 877% on the platform. Similar traffic spikes have been seen on other platforms as well, such as Skype, Teams, BlueJeans, Facetime etc. This is good for the video conferencing market, right? But what about the cybersecurity side of things? There’s bound to be individuals out there ultimately wanting to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of these platforms have garnered the attention of cybercriminals and malicious users. It is during this time cybersecurity is of most importance than it ever was.
Is ZOOM Actually Safe?
It goes without saying that in the real world, bad guys tend to, well, do bad things. So, if you leave yourself open and vulnerable, you will fall victim. When it comes to the issue of cybersecurity in video conferencing, the privacy and security of your personal data and information should be a top priority. As Zoom took over the spot to be the go-to video conferencing platform, several “security concerns” have been raised by the public pointing to Zoom alone and not any other video conferencing platform. So, what is the real fuss about?
Zoom has been slammed for security issues over the past couple weeks. A recent report found that 35% of professionals are worried that their information may have been compromised on Zoom. Due to this fear, 12% of Zoom users said they have stopped using the video conferencing platform altogether. Let’s look at Zoom’s security features, shall we?
Accessing a Zoom requires a meeting ID which is a 10–11-digit number made unique and long enough to prevent brute force attacks. Zoom enables an unlimited number of simultaneous discussions and unique personal IDs which can be set up and kept. One of the key security features is it enables meeting owners to set passwords and has passwords set on by default. So, unless you have that password, you wouldn’t have access to enter the call. The company advises people strongly, to make sure to use this security feature if not all the time then for important meetings where sensitive information would be shared. But we as humans tend to be lazy when it comes to anything that makes ease of use, even a little more difficult. If nobody ever sets a password, the platform is open to attack. This isn’t Zoom’s fault, the security tools are put to place, we’re the ones choosing not to use them.
Securing Your Con-Calls 101:
Our takeaway on this whole Zoom fiasco is that what we as users should do, is put to practice our common sense in maintaining the privacy and security of all our video conferencing sessions. What can you do to maintain secure on Zoom, you ask? Let’s put to practice the following steps to keep you, your employees, clients, business associates, friends, family and loved ones in check!
· Ensure Meetings are set to private, and that you have passwords enabled for every meeting.
· Always ensure the Zoom application is updated to the latest version.
· Set your screen sharing option to the “Host Only” option.
· Never share your Zoom links publicly or post them on social media. Email to the specific person directly.
· During the Zoom sessions don’t click links on the chat unnecessarily.
· Once all have joined, use the feature in Zoom to lock the meeting, hence no one else can join the meeting.
Whichever platform you choose to stay connected with your colleagues and peers is totally in your hands. But it is imperative for you to keep in mind the best practices while on any of the available platforms. Take note that all video conferencing platforms have similar structures, so it’s up to us, as users, to be fully protected by utilizing the security measures they’ve put to place to keep your meetings secure.
