Google has banned the Zoom app from all employee computers over ‘security vulnerabilities’

Authored by businessinsider.sg and submitted by irraguhil

caption Sundar Pichai. source REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Google has banned the use of Zoom on employees’ computers, according to a new report.

The company alerted employees last week that it would disable the service, citing security vulnerabilities.

It’s the latest, but not the first, company to ban Zoom across its business.

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Google has barred employees from using Zoom on company computers, BuzzFeed reported and Business Insider has confirmed.

The company sent an email to all employees with the Zoom app on their computers and told them that the app would stop working this week, citing “security vulnerabilities.” Google has its own videoconferencing app called Meet, a direct competitor to Zoom.

“We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

“Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees,” the statement added. “Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.”

As people are forced to work and socialize from home, the popularity of Zoom has rocketed, but it has not been all good news, as the service’s various security vulnerabilities have also come under the spotlight. This has included a new form of harassment known as “Zoom bombing,” where hackers gain access to a Zoom meeting and attempt to disrupt it.

In fact, Google isn’t the first company to ban the use of Zoom. Tesla did the same thing earlier this month, also over security concerns, and asked employees to rely on phone calls, emails, and texts instead.

Iprobablyjustlied on April 11st, 2020 at 21:41 UTC »

Can anyone say why exactly zoom isn’t safe?

DataVader on April 11st, 2020 at 20:38 UTC »

Doesn't Google have its own service called Google Meet?!

praecantator on April 11st, 2020 at 20:38 UTC »

Major point: they didn't ban the Zoom service, they specifically banned the desktop client. They even explicitly told employees they could use the web client or mobile.