Zoom sued by shareholder for failing to disclose security flaws

One of Zoom’s shareholders has launched a class-action lawsuit against the company for failing to disclose its security flaws.

The shareholder, Michael Drieu, is accusing Zoom of overstating its privacy standards and for not disclosing that its platform does not have end-to-end encryption. Misleading marketing had allowed the public to believe that the platform did in fact have end-to-end encryption.

Drieu notes that the recent media reports that have uncovered Zoom’s security flaws have caused the company’s stock to plummet. For instance, Zoom has recently lost nearly one-third of its market value.

Last week, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan apologized to users and said that his company “messed up” in launching a service that has been so easily taken advantage of by trolls and attackers.

The company has faced significant backlash from users concerned about the lack of end-to-end encryption, which has allowed for ‘Zoomboming,’ as unauthorized people have been able to access Zoom meetings and share hate-speech or pornographic images.

The platform has also been called out for leaking users’ email addresses and photos and giving strangers the ability to start a video call with them. Another recent report details two bugs that hackers can use to take over a Zoom user’s Mac, and also allow them to control the webcam and microphone.

Zoom has experienced a significant surge in users across the world as lockdown measures are requiring people to work, study and socialize from home. The platform had a maximum of 10 million daily users in December, but the number had increased to 200 million by March.

Although Zoom has promised that end-to-encryption is coming, it won’t be available for several more months, which poses a privacy risk for current users.

Source: Reuters