Popular video conferencing platform Zoom is asking all its users to update their software on desktop and browsers to the latest version right away. This update is going to offer 265-bit Encryption to all your video and audio meetings from 30 May onwards. The company is reaching out to everyone using its service via email communication, and you can also see this post shared on Zoom’s website.
Updating to Zoom 5.0 is vital, as the company has mentioned that anyone using outdated version will not be able to attend calls after 30 May onwards. “Beginning May 30th, 2020, Zoom will be enabling GCM encryption across the entire Zoom platform, providing increased protection for meeting data,” the email to users mentioned. Up until now, Zoom has used basic 128-bit encryption standards to secure chats on the platform between two users, which is considered less secure. And upgrading to the 256-bit version of security will offer assurance to people on the calls that their conversation is encrypted. This status will be denoted with a green-coloured shield on the top-left of the Zoom’s interface.
Users will be able to click the icon to get additional details about the level of security of their respective video or voice calls. With Zoom’s popularity soaring over the past few months, serious concerns were being raised about its security parameters. Something that the company’s CEO also highlighted with multiple blog posts over this time. In fact, the company has also acquired a security specialist firm called Keybase which is likely to have played its part in implementing 256-bit encryption on Zoom.
So if if you’re a regular Zoom user and can’t do without it for all kinds of official or personal meetings, we’d suggest you hit the update button on the app, Browser or even from the Zoom website right away. This update is likely to ease concerns for theComputer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) which had issued warnings about the safety issue of the Zoom video conferencing app. “Insecure usage of the platform (Zoom) may allow cybercriminals to access sensitive information such as meeting details and conversations,” it pointed out.
Meanwhile, few days back, it was reported thatCentre for Development of Telematics or C-DoT is working on a video conferencing platform rivalling Zoom, that will be available for the Indian government as well as courts in the country. Reports suggest the platform will offer features we already get in Zoom and Microsoft Teams but its security encryption will make useful for securing confidential government calls.