Users of videoconferencing service Zoom reported audio and video problems. Social media was flooded with posts from users reporting they were experiencing such issues.
Thousands of people have reported problems with the site since 9 am, in the UK, according to the website DownDetector.
The company has not yet acknowledged the outage, which came as churches attempted to hold Sunday services on the site. A tweet came in from a Twitter user saying, “Looks like the church broke the internet.”
Reverend Simon Harvey tweeted, “Imagine if door locks in churches across the country jammed simultaneously on a Sunday morning.”
Sunday’s outage also reportedly affected Liberal Democrat politicians. A West Yorkshire councilor lamented it disrupted the Wakefield Lib Dems’ virtual coffee morning with acting leader Sir Ed Davey.
Another joke posted on social media said, Zoom is down, the apocalypse is well and truly here.
The tech company has become a staple for many during the coronavirus crisis. Millions are using the site to connect with friends, family, or colleagues amid lockdown restrictions.
On 22 April, it has reported a 50 percent surge in users over three weeks. The tech firm had hit 300 million daily users.
However, it was later forced to clarify that it had 300 million daily “meeting participants.” This means individual users could be counted more than once.
A spokesperson said this was a genuine oversight on their part. This was when the company’s share prices dropped by as much as 8.7 percent, and it entered the Nasdaq 100. THis is the stock market index comprising 100 of the largest international non-financial firms.
Zoom’s Security Issues
The company said their team is investigating the root cause of issues for joining Zoom Meetings. These appear to only affect a subset of users.
The status page says users are now able to host, join, and participate in Zoom Meetings. It is also the case with Zoom Video Webinars when restarting their sessions.
They will continue to assess this matter, which has impacted a subset of their users. Moreover, they will monitor to ensure there is no further operational impact.
The company’s spokesperson did not provide a reason for the outage. But in an email, they apologized for any inconvenience it might have caused.
Their users in the UK first began noticing widespread outages earlier, although free accounts appeared to be functioning normally. Some churches have begun using the videoconferencing service to hold their virtual Sunday services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, usage of this video conferencing service has increased dramatically during the pandemic. It spotlighted the platform’s security issues. These were Zoombombing by trolls and an issue with a “Company Directory” setting that could leak user emails and photos.
The phenomenon of Zoombombing is when an uninvited guest uses its screen-sharing feature to broadcast porn and shock videos. This has been on the rise.
Another security issue for Zoom, apparently, is the leaking of some email addresses and user photos. A further issue is allowing some users to initiate a video call with strangers. This is because of an issue with how the app handles contacts that it perceives work for the same organization.
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