Taiwan government has cited Zoom security concern as a reason behind its ban in the country. The government was also concerned that the calls and encryption were being routed through China.
Zoom usage has surged since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The video conferencing platform has grown from 10 million daily meetings in December 2019 to more than 200 million daily meetings. However, this surge is bringing new scrutiny of its security features after reports started to emerge about its vulnerability.
Zoom security concerns
Leaked emails, routing of calls and encryption keys through China and interception of calls by unauthorized persons were some of the reasons cited by the Taiwanese government. The government was also concerned that the official government communications could be used to compromise its democratically elected government.
The ban on the teleconferencing service in the country continued to spark concerns about its security. The Taiwanese government is not the only institution that has banned the platform this week, with Google and Facebook also banning its usage for official communication in the companies.
The company has also been sued in a class lawsuit in California. The lawsuit cited three security issues that were cited by researchers. Zoom security allowed the sharing of data with Facebook, it also had incomplete encryption and the platforms also allowed unauthorized access to webcams by malicious users.
These concerns have led the Taiwanese government to ban the platform for official usage in the country. This announcement was made by the executive branch, through a publication. The statement warned officials that if they must hold video conferencing, they had to look for another video conferencing platform and avoid Zoom at all costs due to its security concern.
Taiwan- China relations
The Taiwanese government was concerned that the data routed through China would be intercepted by the country. This would compromise the security for the island country, which China considers as part of its territory.
The statement continued by saying that it was safe to use Google and Microsoft teleconferencing services. Most of these services are now free due to the coronavirus pandemic and the recommendation was based on an evaluation by the Taiwanese government about their security.
Other Zoom security concerns raised about the platform includes bug bounty hunters who are exploiting the platform for vulnerabilities, zoom accounts have also been found on the darknet, hijacking of teleconferencing calls and AI zoombombing where users are now able to use AI to create video conference with virtual people who are not physically available.
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