Good news for the PM: Zoom finally adding full security

The Epidemic Response Committee and Cabinet both met via Zoom during the first lockdown, despite its lack of full encryption at the time, which concerned cyber experts. Photo / File

Six months after it first caused controversy, Zoom is finally getting a key security feature.

As New Zealand went into lockdown during March, Cabinet was criticised for meeting via the popular web conferencing service - despite GCSB advice on its drawbacks.

Security expert Daniel Ayers was one of those who questioned why our top politicians would use a video platform that lacked end-to-end encryption, despite its claims.

Ayers' comments came as Zoom suffered a rash of bad publicity over privacy breaches and the phenomenon of "Zoom-bombing" or uninvited guests crashing virtual meetings.

The start of April saw a mea culpa from Zoom, as its chief product officer Oded Gal, "We want to apologise for the confusion we have caused by incorrectly suggesting that Zoom meetings were capable of using end-to-end encryption."

And in a separate post, Zoom founder and chief executive Eric Yuan said "We recognise that we have fallen short of the community's – and our own – privacy and security expectations. For that, I am deeply sorry."

Zoom made a series of changes to its settings, including new option to leave meeting participants in a virtual waiting room by default until approved by a host, and muted until the host switched on their audio.

In May, Zoom bought Keybase, a startup with encryption expertise.

At the time, Yuan indicated end-to-end encryption would be offered to Zoom's paying customers only.

But today at his company's "Zoomtopia" event, the Zoom boss revealed all users will get the full security function.

End-to-end encryption will be rolled out next week for a 30-day trial, during which users will be encouraged to give feedback.

"Zoom users — free and paid — around the world can host up to 200 participants in an E2EE meeting on Zoom, providing increased privacy and security for your Zoom sessions," Yuan said.

In March, a GCSB spokesman told the Herald the security agency did not proscribe which software Cabinet used, but did issue recommendations about its appropriate use.

In Zoom's case, the GCSB's advice was that it be used for discussions of information up to the "Restricted" level.

Despite security and privacy controversy, Zoom has piled on paying customers during global lockdowns, and its Nasdaq-listed shares have risen from US$68.72 at the start of January to a recent US$518 - catapulting its market cap to US$144 billion.