Zoom is among the world’s most downloaded and used video conferencing apps. Zoom sprung up the fame ladder in 2020 following the COVID-19 social-distancing rules that forced people to work from home. The increased need for people to socialize, work, and learn remotely forced many to turn to Zoom. Since the platform rose in popularity, it has remained one of the most utilized apps for virtual individual and business meetings.
Is Zoom 100% Secure?
Zoom provides a seamless way to interact and chat with friends and colleagues. It offers an effective way to organize and conduct virtual business meetings. Friends and families living in different parts of the world can now video chat and interact without paying exorbitantly. Zoom commits to user safety, but its system has varied bugs that expose you to malware and safety vulnerabilities. The following are critical Zoom vulnerabilities. We’ll also discuss the benefits of using proxies to secure and improve your connections and interactions.
Zoom Shares Your Data With Facebook
Facebook, like other leading social media apps, persistently searches for ways to harvest customer data to gauge user preferences and customize its services and products. Although compiling the data you share on Facebook isn’t such a big deal, some might deem going the extra mile to pull the information you share on other platforms unacceptable. Sadly, Zoom has been reported to share your analytics data with Facebook.
Vice’s Motherboard’s recent investigation of Zoom confirmed that the platform’s iOS mobile app shares user analysis data, despite claiming to offer end-to-end encryption. By connecting to Facebook’s Graph API, Zoom iOS alerts Facebook whenever you log into Zoom, sharing your phone details, phone carrier details, advertising identifier, and location. Although Zoom claimed to have removed the Facebook SDK feature for iOS clients, it’s still not guaranteed they won’t harvest (and sell) your data.
Windows Malware Injection Vulnerability
Zoom’s chat feature automatically creates hyperlinks from typed URLs. That results in a loophole, allowing hackers to inject malware into your computer through the hyperlinks. Since Zoom supports the creation of UNC path links, hackers can install malware into your computer using hyperlinks. When a hacker shares UNC links during a chat, they can harvest the credentials of the meeting attendants who click the links.
Alternatively, hackers can use the UNC path link as a way to force victims to run malicious software on their computers. Through these links, attackers can steal passwords and other vital details, which they can use to perform criminal activities online. To keep your connections secure and block attackers from harvesting your data shared during meetings or stealing your credentials, use Zoom proxies. Residential and data center proxies provide reliable ISP internet connections while blocking potential hacking attempts.
Zoombombing Threats
The information shared during sensitive private business meetings is only suitable for the ears of those invited. In the event unauthorized parties access this information, they can use it to destroy the company’s progress. For instance, when sensitive financial and business operation data leaks to malicious parties, they can use it to the company’s disadvantage.
Zoom doesn’t have robust mechanisms to prevent unauthorized people from joining Zoom meetings. Provided concerned parties get the link to join the Zoom meetings, they can attend without further authorization. But Zoom just introduced the waiting room feature and meeting passwords, which ensures only verified parties can participate in these meetings.
Sharing of Data With Advertisers
Zoom claims to uphold the rights to customer data privacy, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Zoom has a data-mining feature that supports the sharing of user analysis data to LinkedIn Premium subscribers. In other words, the Zoom app supports data scraping through the LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which enables unauthorized parties to access your LinkedIn profile details, job titles, and employer names.
Again, using premium and high-quality proxies can save you from such a privacy leak. Proxies hide your identity while ensuring you can Zoom seamlessly without worrying about third parties accessing your data.
Conclusion
Zoom is here to stay, and its benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. However, it’s only wise to know the risks associated with using the app to devise unique ways to avoid them. After all, you want to keep in touch with loved ones, not have your data mistreated.
