Zoom acquires Keybase to boost security, add end-to-end encryption

Zoom announced that it has acquired Keybase, a startup company that specializes in secure messaging and encryption.

In a blog post, the company stated that this acquisition is going to help it build end-to-end encryption. This comes after Zoom has faced numerous security issues in the last few months as its popularity and usage significantly increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zoom’s acquisition of Keybase, which was finalized for an unknown price, will likely boost its credibility. The platform will also definitely benefit from having encryption experts on its team.

“This acquisition marks a key step for Zoom as we attempt to accomplish the creation of a truly private video communications platform that can scale to hundreds of millions of participants, while also having the flexibility to support Zoom’s wide variety of uses,” Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said in the blog post.

Yuan notes that since enterprise consumers are reliant on a high level of security, this new acquisition will help Zoom achieve that standard.

He also stated that the service is going to implement new tools for paying customers once Keybase is integrated into the company. For instance, he says that the platform is going to offer end-to-end encryption for paying customers.

Further, he says that “logged-in users will generate public cryptographic identities that are stored in a repository on Zoom’s network and can be used to establish trust relationships between meeting attendees.”

Given Zoom’s recent track record in terms of security, this acquisition is a step in the right direction towards regaining consumers’ trust.

Source: Zoom