TECHNOLOGY
Zoom adds end-to-end encryption to Zoom Phone and Breakout Rooms
Users must have the same Zoom account for E2EE for Zoom calls to work
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Figure : Zoom via Denis
Zoom is expanding its privacy and security capabilities by adding end-to-end encryption (E2EE) settings to more of its services.
In the coming months, end-to-end encryption will be available on the cloud-based Zoom Phone and in Breakout Rooms for meetings.
Breakout Rooms allows an administrator to divide the meeting participants into smaller groups that come together in their own mini-meeting within the larger one.
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For Zoom Phone calls, users can add E2EE during a call by selecting “more” and clicking the higher encryption level option. When enabled, the call is encrypted using cryptographic keys known only to the devices belonging to the caller and recipient. This can also be verified with a special E2EE status in the form of a security code that the participants can share with each other.
However, in order to enable E2EE, users need to take care of a few things first. Their account must have E2EE enabled in the web portal and both callers must have the same Zoom account. Both callers will also need to use the Zoom Phone desktop or mobile client and neither caller will be able to record the call – automatic call recording should also be turned off. In addition, E2EE is only available for one-to-one conversations.
While other Zoom services previously had end-to-end encryption options, these protections didn’t extend to Breakout Rooms. Before today’s change, creating a meeting and trying to set it to E2EE would automatically disable the Breakout Rooms feature.
To extend encryption to Breakout Rooms, each breakout has its own unique encryption key. The feature isn’t live yet, though Zoom says it will be coming “soon”.
E2EE on Zoom was a bit of a PR disaster in the early days of the pandemic, when the video conferencing platform quickly grew in popularity. It only started rolling out E2EE for meetings in October 2020, after months of various security vulnerabilities, such as Zoomboming.
© Dennis Publishing
