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Zoom knows its app is a hot security mess – the CEO is sorry and promises fixes are on the way

About to zoom right back to Hangouts Meet.

Zoom app logo and background
Image: KnowTechie

Zoom recently had a meteoric increase of users as the world pivoted to work-from-home arrangements to stem the tide of coronavirus infections, but that’s left it wide open to security issues.

There was the revelation that chats weren’t actually end-to-end encrypted, despite what the company’s marketing says. Then it was announced that there was a ‘bug’ that lets attackers run software or steal Windows credentials, and, finally, the fact that the iOS app sent data to Facebook, even if you didn’t have a Facebook account.

Nothing like a bit of public outcry to force a company to change its ways, with Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan laying out his company’s plan to win your trust back. The short version? It goes a little bit like “We’re sorry that we’ve made some terrible decisions in the past and we’re going to fix those.”

Remember last year when Apple had to patch every Mac computer because Zoom installed a hidden server that wasn’t deleted when you uninstalled the client? Yeah, we remember. Apple probably remembers too, as this is (probably) the only time that it used the Malware Removal Tool to remove a legitimate piece of software.

There might be a second time coming soon too, as the Mac installer for the Zoom client uses some pretty shady tricks that are usually only implemented by malware, including a misspelled version of a system prompt that looks like a legit macOS one. Yikes.

Let’s hope that the 90 days of proactively working on security issues that Zoom has promised are actually used to fix the gaping holes in its actual security. Or you know, at least to stop using the borderline-malware methods that it’s been using.

What do you think? Surprised that Zoom has so many issues? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.

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