Zoom Videos Communications Launched End-to-End Encryption

American communications technology company made an important on October 26. According to Zoom Videos Communications, its new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is now available to users around the world. People who use Zoom free of charge, as well as paid users, have the opportunity to use E2EE for meetings with up to 200 participants.

It is worth mentioning that, the feature is available immediately as a technical preview, which means that the company is asking for feedback on the feature for 30 days. Moreover, the E2EE will continue to be available after this period.

As a reminder, Zoom has previously offered encryption for its calls. However, the data was only encrypted between each meeting participant and Zoom’s servers. People should take into account that, it is quite easy to learn when whether this feature is working. A person can check Zoom is using the more secure kind of encryption. This person must look for the green shield located at the top left of a  meeting window. Importantly, this shield will show a padlock rather than a checkmark if the meeting is encrypted end-to-end.

Zoom’s E2EE and main findings

It is worth mentioning that, E2EE does not work with a few of Zoom’s features. It means people won’t be able to use the feature when it comes to cloud recording, liver transcription, meeting reactions, etc. Moreover, participants won’t be able to join using a telephone, SIP/H.323 devices, as well as on-premise configurations, or Lync/Skype clients.

As stated above, Zoom’s E2EE meetings support a maximum of 200 participants. As a result, that won’t affect users on Zoom’s Basic or Pro plans, which max out at 100 participants. However, it could be a problem for Business or Enterprise subscribers, which would otherwise allow up to 300 or 500 participants.

It worth mentioning that, end-to-end encryption is available for both free and paid users. Based on the information provided by Zoom, free accounts will need to verify their phone number using SMS. Moreover, they will also need a valid billing option associated with their account.

The coronavirus pandemic is a serious issue for the companies. Importantly, millions of people around the world started to work from home. It means there is a need for such features. Zoom made the right decision when it decided to offer end-to-end encryption to owners of free accounts. Other companies should also expand their services. This way it will be easier to boost productivity and security.