Zoom changes its interface to improve its protection of privacy

The Zoom application will no longer show the meeting identifier in the title bar in the future to avoid accidental leaks and zoom-bombing.

The videoconferencing service Zoom has released an update to its Linux , Mac and Windows applications, which removes the meeting identifier from the application's title bar.

This update comes after users have disclosed their meeting IDs, and even their meeting passwords when sharing screenshots of their meetings on social media.

Famous incidents include the case of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who shared the identifier for a meeting of the British cabinet, and that of members of the Belgian Parliament who accidentally exposed the identifier and password of a defense commission.

When identities are disclosed in this way, it often leads to what is known as "Zoom-bombing", a new type of online trolling that has become very popular in recent weeks.

These bombings of Zoom video chats usually take place because trolls search the Internet for leaks of meeting identities, log in without being invited to Zoom conferences, and disrupt meetings by throwing insults, posting pornographic content on the Internet. video stream of the meeting or threatening other participants.

By hiding the meeting identifier, Zoom hopes to curb these raids on Zoom that have affected many of its users. According to the log of the Zoom application update, the meeting ID has been moved from the title bar to a scrolling panel that appears when you click on the "info" icon, in the panel upper left of each Zoom application.

A new section on security in the Zoom application

In addition, Zoom also made it easier to manage security settings for meeting hosts. Since this week’s update, the Zoom app has a dedicated security icon in the control panel, where the meeting organizer can manage all security settings from one place, rather than having to go through different screens.

"This includes locking the meeting, activating the waiting room, and more. Users can also activate the waiting room in a meeting, even if the feature was deactivated before the meeting started. "said Zoom.

The new security-focused updates are no coincidence. More than a week ago, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan wrote a blog post promising to stop work on all the new features under development and focus on improving privacy features. and security of the Zoom application . Yuan made this promise after security researchers discovered and reported a series of vulnerabilities and privacy issues with the application.

A significant impact on Zoom bombing

Zoom sent out its first update to address these issues last week, correcting reported security bugs, enabling default waiting rooms for all future meetings, and imposing a password for all new conferences. .

These first updates had an immediate impact on the Internet communities where the trolls organized raids on Zoom. This week’s update, which removes the meeting ID from a location as visible as the application’s title bar, should further reduce this practice.

Zoom took a new step yesterday to strengthen corporate security by announcing the creation of a new board and an RSSI advisory committee to advise the current CEO on security matters. In addition, the company has hired Alex Stamos, a former Facebook and Yahoo security manager , as an external consultant.