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Some of the world’s largest companies have discouraged the use of Zoom Video Communications Inc.’s video conferencing application, fueling a growing backlash against a service that rose to fame during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Daimler AG, Ericsson SA, NXP Semiconductors NV and Bank of America Corporation are among a wave of companies that prohibit or warn employees against using Zoom due to safety concerns, according to people familiar with its operations. They join corporations like Tesla and government agencies from Taiwan to Singapore that have banned the use of the app.
India viewed Zoom as an insecure platform and launched a public competition to develop a secure homegrown video chat alternative.
Zoom emerged during the global coronavirus blockade as a home for everything from virtual cocktail hours to cabinet meetings and classroom learning. It passed the milestone of 300 million daily meeting participants this week, having never crossed 10 million before the start of this year. Its share price remains close to a record reached in March.
However, cybersecurity researchers warn that hackers can exploit flaws in the software to spy on meetings. Weak protection has led to the “Zoombombing” phenomenon, where uninvited trolls gain access to a video conference to harass participants.
Daimler wrote “the software has several security breaches and data protection issues” in a note to employees reviewed by Bloomberg News. The automaker, an employer of about 300,000 people worldwide, was not a corporate client of Zoom before, but is now explicitly banning the video call app, pointing workers to Microsoft teams as a more reliable alternative.
“Daimler prohibits the use of Zoom for corporate content until further notice,” company spokesman Christoph Sedlmayr said in an emailed statement.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has focused on beefing up the security of his video conferencing application with the goal of recovering customers who left the company. Zoom is working to improve its encryption, and argues that many of its problems stem from the fact that the app was initially targeted at business customers with their own IT security teams rather than the general consumer app it became.
Security reviews
NXP, a wireless communications technology provider, uses Microsoft equipment internally and recently banned Zoom from using it with third parties, one person said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters. Networking giant Ericsson also trusts Teams, formerly Skype for Business, for remote meetings and is now asking staff not to use Zoom. If customers or partners want to use the app, Ericsson staff will need to make sure external parties understand and are willing to accept the risks of using Zoom before proceeding with a meeting, another person familiar with the measures said.
An NXP spokesperson declined to comment, while Ericsson said in an emailed statement that it had internally approved applications and guidelines for the meetings, without giving further details.
“A host of global institutions ranging from the world’s largest financial services companies to leading telecommunications providers, government agencies, universities, and others,” have conducted extensive security reviews of our layers of users, networks, and hubs. data and they have confidently selected Zoom for a full implementation, “said a Zoom spokeswoman by email.” We are proud to help these customers maintain business continuity in this challenging and unprecedented time. “
Bank of America generally does not use Zoom internally because it has other video conferencing tools, and in cases where customers seek to communicate through Zoom, bankers must go through an approval process to use it, a person familiar with the situation said. Of the 208,000 bank employees, more than 175,000 work from home, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment.
