Is Zoom safe to use?

RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ) — If you hadn’t heard of online chat platform Zoom before the pandemic, you almost certainly have now.

It’s one of several tools we’re now using to stay in touch and do business. But a growing number of reports say Zoom is easily hacked.

People are using zoom now for parties, therapy, work meetings, fitness classes, etc.

“Zoom kind of helps compensates for some of the bad things going on right now by giving companies the ability to communicate with their customers and employees face to face,” says Bob Stamper, iSAFE Complete Managed Services CEO and owner.

iSAFE is based in Richmond and is a computer services company.

Zoom says its number of daily users exploded from 10 million to 200 million from December to March.

“To increase that drastically within a matter of weeks it’s pretty impressive that we didn’t crash their system,” says Stamper.

But with the explosion came some negative reports, like Zoom is easily hacked and that the software is being used to distribute Malware.

Stamper says he’s not concerned.

“There’s security issues with any platform you use so nothing is completely secure. But in the grand scheme of things we did not see any evidence that Zoom should not be used and that it is an extremely risky platform,” says Stamper.

Stamper says the hacking you’ve heard of may have just been some unwelcome guests.

“Not saying it hasn’t happened but those articles that said people were being hacked it looked like people just got the Zoom information and joined the meeting that were uninvited,” explains Stamper.

He says that’s why you should use a password for your meetings and only give that information to those invited. Don’t post it anywhere online.

“We recommend using the ‘waiting room’ as well which allows you to see when a new user joins before they actually enter the meeting,” says Stamper.

He says the Malware claim is due to hackers creating hacked versions of Zoom’s installer with Malware in it.

“You never want to download the software from anywhere except zoom.com or from a valid meeting request so you want to make sure you’re getting software from a reputable source,” says Stamper.

He says Zoom has some technical glitches but it’s working to get those fixed, and says these tips should keep you safe in the mean time.

For more from iSAFE, click here.