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Online collaboration platforms have witnessed a sudden spurt in demand for their services ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The US-based Zoom Video Communications is one such platform, which has helped people interact with one another virtually, ensuring business continuity. But as users began to take to the platform, cyber security experts found that Zoom passwords were being sold in the Dark Web at 10 a penny.
The Union Ministry of Home too flagged concerns, saying that the Zoom network may not be safe. Hackers began to gatecrash into conversations, leaving the hosts embarrassed.
Sameer Raje, India Head at Zoom Video Communications, has said that the company has hired multiple intelligence firms to find these password dumps and the tools used to create them.
“We continue to investigate, are locking accounts we have found to be compromised, asking users to change their passwords to something more secure, and are looking at implementing additional technology solutions to bolster our efforts,” he said.
For the Dark Web, it is common for web services that serve consumers to be targeted by this type of activity, which typically involves bad actors testing large numbers of already compromised credentials from other platforms to see if users have reused them elsewhere.
“This kind of attack generally does not affect our large enterprise customers that use their own single sign-on systems,” Raje said.
Asked about incidents of Zoombombing (hackers gatecrashing into Zoom conferences), he said the firm recently updated several features to help users protect their meetings. “For all users, we have made the Zoom Meeting ID less visible to help prevent unintended sharing,” he said.
Numbers shoot up
At of December end last year, the maximum number of daily meeting participants on Zoom was about 10 million. “In March this year, we reached more than 200 million daily meeting participants,” he said.
On the Union Home Ministry’s caution against using Zoom, the firm said it is in touch with the Ministry and “is focused on providing relevant information.”
No time limit for education
Zoom has removed the 40-minute time limit from its free Basic account for the Ministry of Education during the Covid-19 lockdown so that education for the youth continues uninterrupted.
Zoom implemented a 90-day plan this month focussing on trust, safety, and privacy issues.
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