Zoom users surge to 300 million in 3 weeks despite security issues

Video-conference app Zoom has registered a sharp spike in the total number of users despite security concerns. A rise of 50 per cent has been seen in the use of online meeting application in the last three weeks, Zoom, CEO, Eric Yuan, said. Over 300 million people used Zoom's video conferencing software on April 21, a 50 per cent rise from 200 million daily users at the beginning of the month, Eric Yuan said in a webinar on Wednesday.

"Clearly the Zoom platform is providing an incredibly valuable service to our beloved users during this challenging time," Eric Yuan added. "We are thrilled and honored to continue to earn the trust of so many enterprises, hospitals, teachers and customers throughout the world," he also said.

Zoom app was recently flagged by various governments worldwide, including India, over security issues. Zoom earlier this week said that it's in talks with the Indian government on the concerns related to security. The video conferencing software of the San Jose, California-based company, which picked up demand globally amid coronavirus lockdown, also said that it's working on adding actual end-to-end encryption to further secure video calls, Zoom Video Communications, India Head, Sameer Raje, said. "Zoom is in communications with the Ministry of Home Affairs and is focused on providing the information they need to make informed decisions about their policies," Sameer Raje also said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its recent advisory via Cyber Coordination Centre had red-flagged the video conferencing facility as unsafe, days after India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) had raised concerns over potential cyber attacks through Zoom. "Insecure usage of the platform may allow cyber criminals to access sensitive information such as meeting details and conversations," the government had said.

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