Summary
As several in-person engagements have been shifted online due to coronavirus lockdowns, the popularity of the video-sharing platform Zoom has exploded. Issues concerning its trustworthiness have also arisen. Zoom had severe security apprehensions in the past due to the controversy that erupted when users discovered its flaws (Hodge, 2020). Many individuals are still wary of Zoom since they believe it breaches their human dignity and safety due to specific significant changes.
Problems facing Zoom
Zoom was not facing one instigation, but rather it had several issues under one key challenge, the security problem. The security threats faced by Zoom included End-to-End encryption debates. Zoom faced severe accusations from certain for its dishonesty together with imbalanced encoding policies and standards. According to Zoom operators, the organization promised end-to-end encoding, but the commission alleges the end-to-end encryption provided was being stored on its server (Hodge, 2020). Zoom admitted through some blog posts that their E2E was not secure since it was violating their customer’s right to privacy.
Zoom had security issues with their chat box; Bugs are an extensive delinquent in various packages and applications. Hackers might allocate malware by creating GIF pictures and cryptogram snippets, this is according to a surveillance company known as Talos. Another problem was Zoom’s conversation window allowed clients to convey any file types, including untitled properties and untitled.txt (Hodge, 2020). These types of documents easily debase the device and relocate malicious encryptions in whichever place they are kept. Another security threat faced by Zoom users is the Bombings and meeting disruptions; it was the major problem that made headlines across all news stations and blog posts. Any person with a meeting ID or even a link could quickly join meetings and spy on an entire conversation. On several occasions, uninvited guests crashed meeting rooms to expose gratified content or make offensive signals (Hodge, 2020). In a Zoom bombing situation, the person hosting loses control of the problem hence the reason why they cannot decide who can be or cannot be part of the meeting. When such situations arise, the host has only one option: to call off the summit.
Zoom has an anti-tempering mechanism that is so vulnerable hence being termed as weak; the primary function of an anti-tampering tool is to shield its systems from attacks and cyber security issues. A hacker can quickly go through Zoom’s server by bypassing the dynamic link library, the dynamic-link library is software made up of codes and commands, and each is made for a specific function across the entire application (Hodge, 2020). Due to the vulnerability of the DLL, someone can easily install malicious links and dis-function Zoom’s DLL, causing leakage of the customer’s data.
There was also a problem with Zoom’s data-sharing agreements. According to an investigation that was carried out on Zoom’s Motherboard, users’ information was being transmitted through the iOS program like when a user accessed the service, their locality, and device specifics without explicitly asking for permission (Hodge, 2020). This data is transferred through Facebook’s software development kit, used for its “Login with Facebook” functionality. Intelligence analysts have also expressed worry over “sketchy” installation malware, which permitted Zoom to rapidly deploy on Macs after a user clicked the transfer link, bypassing the regular security safeguards.
Stakeholders affected by the Zoom ethical issues
The organization itself, its CEO, shareholders, workers, and Zoom users, Zoom’s colleagues, and commercial partners are among the individuals impacted by the unethical security challenges (Velasquez, 2012). The organization was sued by Michael Drieu, one of its stakeholders, for not revealing the privacy and security breach issue. Zoom and its top executives were implicated in withholding information concerning flaws in the app’s code encryption, such as its purported susceptibility to cyber criminals, as well as the illegal dissemination of personal information to 0.33 entities, including Facebook and Google.
Individuals working with the Zoom organization as its employees were also affected since they had to be retrenched and go home until the security and privacy concerns were addressed. Most of the employees had to endure many struggles adjusting to life without a living. However, according to the moral and ethical concerns raised, there was no other option other than going home until the privacy issue was solved (Velasquez, 2012). They are up for the challenge because they believe the issues will be resolved and go back to the office.
Eric Yuan, the chief executive officer of Zoom, had to address the security issues concern. He apologized and promised to take it as a challenge. In his speech, he mentioned that he did not know that Zoom as a platform would soar so fast before the coronavirus pandemic. Zoom is being used by millions of people across the globe for both leisure and work since most countries are on lockdown (Velasquez, 2012). Yuan says that when the product was being designed, he did not have a foresight of it serving across the globe, so there are so many challenges coming up.
A possible solution to Zoom’s ethical issues
The solution to Zoom bombing; New features should be introduced to curb this menace. These features include making passwords compulsory when joining a meeting room using the meeting ID option, creating a waiting room, and adding a blocking feature. Additional features such as enabling the host to decide who can share their screen, adding two-factor authentication, and adding a lock meeting feature, among others, could also help secure the site. All these features can be placed under the settings option on the Zoom app. An additional protection layer can work in conjunction with End-to-End encryption to tackle the E2E controversies and help solve the issue (Velasquez, 2012).
Integration of the “Captcha” feature to handle the brute force attack issue will make it possible to prevent attacks from other bots. In order to play nice with devices from Apple, Zoom should fix its bugging function by changing the local host on its web server settings and allowing mac users to uninstall the application from the toolbar on their devices manually. The organization should also be able to enhance its default password by enabling both alphabets and numerals in password creation.
Although Zoom has faced all those challenges, it still has some pros that might interest some individuals. There are a couple of fantastic ideas that might help one decide whether to continue using Zoom or seize from using it completely. The ideas explain why Zoom could still be a success despite all the problems; it still has the following advantages; it is easy to use because it is very user-friendly. In some situations, video calls and teleconferencing are usually challenging to maintain but Zoom hides and eliminates the ability to do complex tweaking to make it more efficient (Hodge, 2020).
Zoom has break-out rooms, which enable the ability to divide a big group of users into small groups and call them back simultaneously. This control type is very efficient for classroom teaching and meetings with huge numbers because it enables easy audience control. Streaming content from other platforms is also an additional feature that gives Zoom a plus; the application integrates with youtube. Facebook does not allow data collection and gives the coordinator the ability to access Facebook directly and stream content from there (Hodge, 2020).
Resolution to this problem
Several other online platforms can facilitate video conferencing; among them is Webex, Google meet, and a couple of other social media and video chat apps. Webex has some features almost similar to Zoom’s; it can accommodate video sessions of up to one hundred members and has no restrictions on the video calls (Velasquez, 2012). It also offers end-to-end encryption for the calls through the encryption is not automatic. Call administrators are the ones who are supposed to turn on the encryption feature. There is also an option on whether the encryption feature can be automatic or manual and whether it can be optional or manual for each session. On the other hand, Google meet has more outstanding features, such as a video conferencing room that can accommodate up to two hundred and fifty participants and live steam up to a hundred thousand in a single session.
In general, the big question of whether the platform is still secure for use can be drawn from different platforms trying to follow up on the security issues and privacy concerns. Some individuals say that the platform is secure, while some still say that it is vulnerable. The officials from the company claim that the security concerns have been addressed and new security measures have been put in place, and are being tested on how efficient they are. Zoom is working aggressively to solve and adhere to the security concerns that have pulled the company down.
References
Hodge, R. (2020). Zoom: Former Dropbox staff say Zoom stalled on security fix. CNet. Web.
Velasquez, M. G. (2012). Ethics and business. In M. G. Velasquez, Business ethics; concepts and cases 7th ed.,46-56.Pearson.