Video calling app Zoom sued by its shareholder for hiding security flaws

Zoom Video Communications Inc has been reportedly slapped with a class-action lawsuit by its shareholder for not revealing privacy and security flaws to its users. The popularity of the video conferencing platform skyrocketed after the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders owing to the pandemic which laid bare the security flaws of the application.

Reports of “Zoombombing” flooded the internet where the users complained about interruptions by uninvited guests and posting hateful messages during online sessions. On April 1, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan apologised to its users saying the company fell short of clearly conveying the encryption practices and incorrectly suggesting that Zoom meetings were capable of using end-to-end encryption.

“While we never intended to deceive any of our customers, we recognize that there is a discrepancy between the commonly accepted definition of end-to-end encryption and how we were using it,” the company had said in a blog post.

Following the clarification, shareholder Michael Drieu in a court filing reportedly said that the privacy flaws of the application have led to the slump in company’s shares. Last week, New York attorney general’s office sent a letter to Zoom asking the measures the California-based company has taken to handle the increased traffic and to heighten the security to thwart hackers. 

Read: How To Delete Zoom Account And Ways To Enhance Its Security If You Have One

Screen hijack

The office raised concerns about the current security practices and the vulnerability of the app’s privacy given the surge in traffic. Some of the users took to Twitter to highlight the issue they faced during meetings where the trolls hijacked the screen-sharing feature to interrupt the meetings.

Read: How To Watch Netflix Together On Zoom App? Watch Movies With Friends On Zoom

Reports of digital surveillance by governments to trace the cases of coronavirus and contain the spread have also raised concerns over privacy, and rights activists believe that it could be the next victim of coronavirus. “Governments around the world are demanding extraordinary new surveillance powers intended to contain the virus’ spread,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation in a blog post.

Read: Zoom App Vulnerability And Safety Concerns: Company Promises To Boost Security

Read: US Investigates Zoom App After Users Complain About Porn Hacks

(With agency inputs)