Zoom is an enterprise-focused video communication app that has seen massive growth over the last month. Wide adoption amid the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the service’s userbase jump from 10 million to 200 million. Zoom is no longer only a business tool, it is being widely adopted by individuals for personal communication.
As the consumer market embraces Zoom, the enterprise market is turning against the service. Google has become the most high-profile company to now ban Zoom use amongst its employees. Like other companies that have taken the step, Google cites security concerns as the reason.
BuzzFeed reports the company sent out notifications to users running Zoom on all employee devices a week ago. Google told those members of staff the device would stop working if the app is not removed.
In a statement, Google says the service does not meet its security standards:
“Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile,” the spokesperson said.
Enterprise Shift
It’s certainly an interesting situation for Zoom. As mentioned, it has always been a relatively popular business app and mostly ignored by consumers. In a turnaround that has taken less than a month, the app is increasingly ignored by enterprise and embraced by consumers.
While tens of millions of business users continue to use the service, I expect the number of companies with a similar stance to Google will grow. Individual personal users may be less concerned by security flaws in the experience, so perhaps Zoom’s growth won’t be harmed by enterprise becoming more cautious.
Problems
Since becoming the go-to video communication platform during the coronavirus outbreak, Zoom has had its fair share of problems. For example, bad actors have been infiltrating meetings and ZoomBoming participants. The company also removed data sharing with Facebook over concerns regarding GDPR rules.
This week it emerged a vulnerability has been found that allows hackers to get the Windows login details of users. Last week, the company’s CEO, Eric S. Yuan said the company did not expect to see a growth in popularity and was not prepared for it.
To help expediate fixes for problems on the platform, Zoom has cancelled all new feature development for 90 days.
