Indian government latest to ban Zoom

(Image credit: Shutterestock)

The Indian government has joined the list of organisations to regulate use of popular videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Zoom's popularity has grown across the world as the coronavirus lockdown leads to more people working from home, but this growth has also led to increased scrutiny of the service.

Several governments and major companies have already blocked the use of Zoom following a number of concerns surrounding possible security issues.

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In a tersely-worded advisory, Indian Home Ministry said, "the platform is not for use by Government officers/officials for official purposes. Zoom is not a safe platform even for usage by individuals."

It added that a detailed advisory has already been issued by CERT-India, the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents. In an order issued on March 30, CERT-IN said that Zoom was vulnerable to cyberattacks, including the possible leaking of sensitive data.

The advisory was particularly concerned over 'insecure usage of the platform', which it says could allow criminals to access sensitive information such as meeting details and conversation history.

Zoom has been accused of being vulnerable to unauthorised entry into meetings by motivated hackers, with such 'Zoombombing' attacks affecting users around the world.

Governments and companies are also worried over the larger security picture following reports that much of Zoom's back-end research originates from China.

Taiwan has already banned the use of Zoom in government facilities, with the Australian intelligence unit also warning against using the software Zoom. Elsewhere, major businesses including Siemens and Standard Chartered bank have also stopped employees from using Zoom over security worries.

TechRadar Pro has contacted Zoom for comment.