Zoom buys online security service in bid to address safety concerns and introduce end-to-end encryption
- The platform has acquired Keybase in a bid to bolster security
- Zoom’s acquisition will help it introduce end-to-end encryption
- Stronger encryption will require some Zoom features to be altered
- The acquisition is a part of Zoom’s 90-day commitment to strengthen security
Zoom has purchased a security and encryption company called Keybase in an effort to address its high-profile security issues and bring expertise to its increasingly popular platform.
Keybase will help the videoconferencing platform implement end-to-end encryption that is designed to safeguard user data and privacy and bolster its current security measures after the company incorrectly claimed its service used full encryption.
Details of the deal, including purchase price, have not been publicly disclosed.
Zoom has acquired the security company Keybase in a bid to strengthen its security measures and help bring end-to-end encryption to its platform (stock)
CNBC reports that encrypted information will not be stored on Zoom’s servers and a a new more robust system will prevent meeting participants from calling in by phone and disable cloud-based records of the call when end-to-en encryption is enabled.
Once introduced, the Zoom user starting a call will be able to enable end-to-end encryption before beginning a meeting.
The move will augment recently introduced security features including the ability to lock meetings and prevent other users from joining, the ability to remove participants in the meeting and greater control over screen sharing.
Zoom has previously said that it will release details on that encryption at the end of the month but it didn’t say when end-to-end encryption would be available.
As noted by The Verge, Keybase was started in 2014 and offers a host of security services including encrypted messaging and file-sharing. The company originally started as a directory for public encryption keys.
The company primarily serves as an encrypted database that verifies users’ online identities.
The acquisition of Keybase is a part of a 90-day plan from Zoom that aims to rectift a rash of security issues.
The company paused new features and has said its engineering resources will now be entirely devoted to improving the service’s security.
Zoom has come under fire for multiple lapses in its security over the last several months. Pictured, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, seen here at the firm’s IPO in New York last April
To help increase transparency, Zoom said it will also deliver periodic reports on law enforcement requests for data, records, or content and will ‘enhance’ its current bug bounty program which pays ethical hackers for finding and reporting flaws found in its code.
Zoom has been mired by multiple security issues during its recent rise in popularity including revelations in March that it was haring sensitive data with Facebook, including times the Zoom app was opened, phone carriers, device specs, location and other analytic data that used to target ads.
Other flaws discovered in Zoom also compromise the privacy of one’s webcam, allowing hackers to tap into video and audio feeds and another issue that allows hackers to steal passwords on Windows devices.