As the novel coronavirus pandemic led to the world’s largest work-from-home experiment, video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Meet saw a sudden rise in their user database. Organizations around the world are now moving ahead with their daily tasks via video conferencing through these apps.
But their usage has also drawn severe criticism from experts over privacy concerns. There had been multiple media reports about the invasion of privacy and data theft on the Zoom app. Experts have even stated that about 50,000 Zoom accounts are up for sale on the dark web for about ₹1.
After many companies barred their employees from using the software, The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs recently issued an advisory stating that the videoconferencing app Zoom is “not safe” for use by private individuals.
The advisory was first issued on April 12 and was later on Thursday shared with the media. The government’s notice comes after the national cybersecurity agency – Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-in) – flagged the cyber vulnerability of the popular app.
The latest advisory issued by the government’s Cyber Coordination Centre or CyCord is for private individuals, and officials pointed out that the NIC (National Informatics Centre) platform is being used for most government video conferences.
Government officials have been asked not to use any third party app and services for meetings. The CyCord portal was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2018 for sharing all cyber-related matters among law enforcement agencies, government organisations and other stakeholders.
The home ministry asked private individuals using Zoom to follow certain guidelines – including preventing unauthorized entry in a conference room, preventing an unauthorized participant from carrying out malicious activity on the terminals of others, and avoiding DOS attack by restricting users through passwords and access grant.
Earlier, CERT-in had said that unguarded use of Zoom can make it vulnerable to cyber-attacks, including leaks of sensitive office information to criminals.
The government has also listed out some precautionary measures to follow if at all employees continue to use the app. A copy of these measures have been attached here with the report.
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