{"id":844319,"date":"2020-07-10T02:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/\/"},"modified":"2020-07-09T22:25:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T03:25:15","slug":"cybersecurity-for-think-tanks-part-four-the-bright-and-dark-sides-of-zoom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/cybersecurity-for-think-tanks-part-four-the-bright-and-dark-sides-of-zoom\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity for think tanks part four: the bright and dark sides of Zoom"},"content":{"rendered":"
In mid-April, during a web event in our #DigitalThinkTanking series<\/a>, we surveyed thinktankers on which video-conferencing tools their think tank uses for online events. This is what we found:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In other words: an overwhelming majority of think tanks use Zoom.<\/p>\n The results of our quick survey also seem to fit in with the global trend: Zoom surpassed many established video conferencing services like Microsoft\u2019s Skype, Cisco\u2019s Webex or Google\u2019s Hangouts in terms of popularity.<\/p>\n In late March 2020, Twitter and social media feeds were suddenly full of screenshots showing Zoom work meetings, Yoga classes and after work beers online.<\/p>\n Many policymakers jumped on the Zoom bandwagon too \u2013 especially in those countries where the public sector \u2018overslept\u2019 the digital transformation (for example, where labour laws regulating public officials and workspaces had not been updated in years to allow for remote work, or where there\u2019s no established or trustworthy way to cast votes remotely<\/a>).<\/p>\n In the digital world it is often the tools that are particularly easy to use, that focus on a single task, and that have low barriers to entry, that attract a lot of users. Security is often an afterthought.<\/p>\n Once user adaptation is widespread, network effects<\/a> kick in making it unattractive to use alternatives to the most popular option. This has been the case with Facebook, WhatsApp, and now Zoom. This network effect leads to a cascading effect<\/a>, meaning even more users and latecomers to digitisation \u2013 like governments \u2013 join \u00a0the platform too.<\/p>\n \u2018Zoombombing\u2019 \u2013 the practice of pranksters joining Zoom sessions without the password \u2013 soon became a thing.<\/p>\n This was facilitated by a lack of awareness by new Zoom users. Posting screenshots of your meetings on Twitter that show the meeting ID allows anyone to join the call. This led the FBI in the US to issue a warning <\/a>that everyone should set up passwords for their meetings. And in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson accidentally shared the Zoom Meeting ID<\/a> for a cabinet meeting.<\/p>\nWith high popularity comes the bad guys<\/h2>\n