The Taiwanese government has made the decision to ban the use of Zoom over security concerns. The German government hasn’t gone quite that far, but the country’s foreign ministry has barred it from government computers and heavily restricted any use of the service …
Bloomberg says Taiwan made the announcement yesterday.
Reuters reports on the German policy introduced today.
Agencies should avoid using services such as Zoom as they may have security flaws, the island’s cabinet said in a statement Tuesday. Governments, companies and individuals around the world, including in Taiwan, have been using the app to conduct meetings remotely in an effort to minimize person-to-person contact amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Some companies and organizations have also decided to ban the use of Zoom, among them SpaceX and NASA.
The memo added that since the system was in widespread use among the ministry’s international partners, it was currently impossible to ban its use entirely and that in crises employees could use it on private machines for professional purposes.
The company is also facing a class-action lawsuit from shareholders unhappy about the impact of the privacy and security issues on the company’s share price, notes a separate Reuters report.
Zoom has responded to concerns by issuing patches and updates to the app, as well as commissioning independent tests of its security and privacy. But more issues continue to be uncovered, prompting interest in alternatives.
Shareholder Michael Drieu claimed in a court filing that a string of recent media reports highlighting the privacy flaws in Zoom’s application have led to the company’s stock, which had rallied for several days in the beginning of the year, to plummet.
