Security hysteria - time and a place...

...which is not now.

Originally posted this on Facebook but it's probably more of a blog post!

I see a few people worrying about cybersecurity at the moment due to increased use of tools like Zoom. Let me give you a bit of context.

When a service suddenly becomes more popular (hello Zoom), it draws the attention of the security research community. Bug hunters find bugs. If having security bugs means you don't want to use a tool, I've got some very bad news about the other apps on your PC/Phone that haven't yet been subjected to (public) scrutiny...

Is Zoom "safe"? It's likely as privacy-safe as other Internet services - I'm typing this on Facebook for God's sake. Are you a national government? Are you a big bank? International criminal? No? Then if you find it useful you should make a decision based on whether you believe employees at Zoom will have any interest in eavesdropping on your friend group... but adopt usual Internet good behaviours: don't click on links unless you are confident they are safe, only download any client software from official sites, put passwords on your meetings so you don't get bombed, apply patches as they are released.  Am I guaranteeing that Zoom HQ will not get hacked? That the Zoom client will never get backdoored? Of course not. But at this point in time, I'd suggest seeing some friendly faces is perhaps worth a little risk?