Home Ministry division issues guidelines for safe use of Zoom amidst security concerns

Even as courts across the country use the Zoom app to conduct hearings via video conference during the COVID-19 lockdown, a division of the Union Home Ministry had issued guidelines on the safe use of the application..As per reports, the Home Ministry has issued an advisory stating that the use of Zoom is not safe for government offices..The advisory comes at a time when concerns have been raised regarding the safety and security of apps like Zoom. Security experts around the world have described Zoom as a “privacy disaster”, even as the company saw a 535% increase in page traffic on its downloads page..However, the company has since apologised for falling short on these counts, and has promised to address concerns surrounding safety and privacy..In fact, the Indian Home Ministry itself had earlier issued an advisory stating that Zoom was “unsafe and vulnerable to cyber attacks”..The latest advisory, issued by the Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of the Home Ministry, states,.“Recently various vulnerabilities and weaknesses have been reported in one of the most popular platform zoom. In present scenario, it may not be possible for all the sectors to stop using Zoom. Therefore, a comprehensive, graphical configuration setting has been prepared by CyCord Center for secure use of the platform.”.CyCord has advised tweaking certain settings on the app so as to ensure safety of video conferencing. As per the release, the broad objectives of enabling/disabling these settings include preventing unauthorised entry in the conference room, preventing an authorised participant to carry out malicious activities on the terminals of others in the conference, and avoiding DOS attacks by restricting users through passwords and grant of access..The document goes on to explain in detail how users can ensure safety and privacy while using Zoom on their devices..The advisory assumes significance in light of the fact that many courts across the country are using Zoom to hold hearings through video conferencing during the Coronavirus lockdown..The High Courts of Kerala and Bombay also made the hearings accessible to the public by sharing the Zoom link..Many lawyers are also adapting to the lockdown by using Zoom for conferences. Recently, the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) offered an online course for Mediation Skills to be conducted through the Zoom app..SCAORA offers online Mediation Skills Course through Zoom App.[Read the advisory]