Now, MHA also says Zoom app is not safe for video conferencing

New Delhi:17.04.2020

Warning that ‘Zoom’ — a popular mode for holding meetings via video conferencing — was not a safe platform, the home ministry has put out a set of guidelines that users may follow to ensure their safety while using the application for private purposes. Reiterating the advisory of CERT-In issued on February 6 and March 30, the ministry said users should enable/disable certain settings to prevent an authorised participantfrom carrying out malicious activity on the terminals of others participating in the conference.

It also advised avoiding DOS (disk operating system) attack by restricting users through passwords and access grant. On April 10, TOI had flagged the danger lurking in Zoom and other such apps and how cyber attacks were on the rise ever since people took to working from home in the lockdown. As part of security configurations, the MHA suggested that users create new IDs and passwords for each meeting. Also, it advocated enabling of waiting room so that every user could enter only when the host conducting the meeting admits the person. It suggested disabling ‘join before host’ and allowing ‘screen sharing’ by host only.

Most of the settings, the home ministry advisory dated April 12 said, could be done by logging into the user’s Zoom account on the website, or installed app on PC/phone. TNN