Zoom to protect ALL calls from hackers by encrypting messages just like WhatsApp
POPULAR video chat app Zoom will offer free and paying users end-to-end encryption to protect them from cyber crooks.
The security feature, which is also present in apps like WhatsApp, covers video calls and is launching as a trial in July.
The company said to help prevent abuse, it will only make the feature available to users who provide a verified phone number.
California-based Zoom had originally planned to strengthen encryption only for its paying clients.
Encryption effectively hides calls behind lines of code that are indecipherable to anyone other than the sender and recipient.
Zoom has attracted millions of free and paying customers as the current global health crisis forced more people to work from home, but has faced criticism over privacy and security issues.
Zoom also came under fire for failing to disclose that its service was not fully end-to-end encrypted.
Taiwan and Germany have placed restrictions on Zoom's use, while Elon Musk's SpaceX banned the app over security concerns. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit.
The company hired former chief security officer at Facebook Inc Alex Stamos in April to help bolster its security and rolled out some major upgrades.
Among the issues reported by users is "zoombombing", in which people who are not part of a group flood a Zoom meeting to post images or memes.
What is Zoom?
- Popular chat app Zoom is best-known for offering video calls – including calls with huge numbers of people
- There's a free tier with unlimited meetings, but these group chats are capped at 40 minutes
- The most expensive tier gets you meetings with up to 1,000 participants, but there are cheaper options
- Perhaps the only downside is that Zoom has had privacy issues in the past, which may put some businesses off
- Signing up to Zoom is free and easy
- You just need a valid email address, and the willingness to accept Zoom's privacy policy and terms – which are fairly standard
- Anyone can sign up to Zoom by download the app, or heading to the official website
The app has encountered problems with privacy in the past: Last year, a Zoom flaw (now fixed) allowed people to turn on your webcam remotely.
And a report by in March warned that Zoom was sending users' information to Facebook without mentioning it in its privacy policy.
This happened even if a Zoom user didn't have a Facebook account, the analysis suggested.
CBS News has since reported that the story from fuming California users.
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