Zoom Forms ‘Security Council,’ Adds Features to Prevent ‘Zoom Bombing’

Video conferencing app Zoom has reportedly formed a new security advisory council and implemented new features to prevent “Zoom bombing.”

Engadget reports that video conferencing app Zoom has been trying to improve its security measures following multiple media reports of privacy breaches, including a phenomenon known as “Zoom bombing” in which unauthorized users gain access to private Zoom calls.

The company has reportedly formed a new security advisory council to fix its “biggest trust, safety and privacy issues.” One member of the security council is reportedly Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former Chief Security Officer who served at the firm between 2015 and 2018. Stamos commented on the council in a post on Medium, stating: “Zoom has some important work to do in core application security, cryptographic design and infrastructure security, and I’m looking forward to working with Zoom’s engineering teams on those projects.”

The firm has reportedly released a new version of the app that removes the meeting ID from the title bar of calls so that it can’t be leaked via screenshots, which is how trolls were gaining access to private zoom calls. The new version of the app also requires hosts to approve new attendees before they can enter the chat.

Breitbart News recently reported that the CEO of the video conferencing company apologized in a blog post over the various security issues that its 200 million daily users are facing on the platform. CEO Eric Yuan announced a number of measures that the company is taking to make the app more secure as millions of Americans use the app to work and study from home. Breitbart News covered the criticism of the company over its lack of action on “Zoom bombing.”

Zoom’s usage has exploded since the beginning of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic in January as many worldwide are forced to work or attend school from home, using the app for group meetings and online classes. In the blog post, Yuan stated that usage had increased by 1,900 percent with 200 million daily free and paying users in March up from 10 million at the end of December.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com