The fact is that with these meeting/group products, the one that makes it easiest to join is the one that succeeds, because there's always one bozo who can't figure out how to type a password, so there's an incentive towards insecure product behaviors.
Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
21–30 of 302 posts
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#22I think the progression here is "Zoom has privacy concerns" -> "Zoom operates like macOS malware" -> "Zoom gets trolled".
I think it's more Microsoft in the early 2000s. "What do you mean there is an internet and people on the internet might not have your best interests at heart!"
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
When your product goes from being "a videoconferencing tool used in some workplaces" to "the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", it makes sense that there will be a lot of stories about it (good, bad and neutral) in the press.
>"the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", I would be curious to see an article about why this happened? Is Zoom better than their countless competitors? They all seem pretty similar in my experience so why is it Zoom that is blowing up because of this and not any of the other companies?
Part of it is that, (at least in my experience, maybe this has changed) Zoom can scale to a couple hundred people in a way that tools like Google Hangouts can't.
But like, if we're being honest, it probably has a lot to do with how easy it is to start a Zoom call and invite people. You can host a 40 minute meeting for free. No one needs to sign up anywhere. It's super easy to install but also works in the browser if you can't install it. Computer on the fritz? You can call in from your phone. And yeah, they've also used some dirty tricks to make it as easy as possible, and some of those measures (like the auto-reinstall thing) were probably unnecessary. But they've clearly focused on being super super easy to start using, and when their moment came they were primed to seize it.
Last weekend my family had a "month's mind mass" in memory of my grandfather who passed a month ago. We were able to get dozens of people, many of them very non-technical, into the call, and we started basically on time. There was no "it doesn't work on my old phone" or "you mean I have to sign up for gmail?" or "whoops I couldn't get in because I signed in with my work email". That's why Zoom is winning the game right now.
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
When your product goes from being "a videoconferencing tool used in some workplaces" to "the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", it makes sense that there will be a lot of stories about it (good, bad and neutral) in the press.
>"the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", I would be curious to see an article about why this happened? Is Zoom better than their countless competitors? They all seem pretty similar in my experience so why is it Zoom that is blowing up because of this and not any of the other companies?
I carefully evaluated all of the major players here (at least 2 hours in each one) and Zoom definitely has the 2nd best video/audio quality/latency after FaceTime (and you can't use FaceTime for meetings where even one person doesn't have an Apple device).
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe... maybe not. It sure is bringing about awareness though, isn't it?
Ahh yes, the old ends justifying the means.
Not going to defend a bunch of trolls, if that's what you're implying.
However, if we don't secure our systems, what do we expect? If there were no bad-actors in the world, people like tptacek would be out of work. What a glorious world it would be, no need for locked doors, fences, passwords, pin codes and more - but that's not the world we live in.
Instead, we're in a world where Zoom has laughable security for barging into potentially sensitive meetings being conducted by businesses and world leaders[1].
If it takes a few meetings getting trolled for Zoom to finally take action, I'm not going to feel much sympathy. Just be glad trolling is all they're doing right now.
So, while I'm sorry your meeting got trolled, it will just continue to happen until you get mad at the people that made it possible - Zoom.
[1] https://mobile.twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1244985949534...
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#26Zoom has open conferences by default. Even if you host one on your business plan, anyone who has the number can dial into it. You could be paying a shitload of money for that, including their 'Zoom Rooms' where they fit out your meeting room with cameras and mics and their special app... and any fuckwit can dial in if they grab the phone number, which is also a US-based one. I don't like to join company calls on an a…
I had a quick feedback call set up by a common investor with Eric, Zoom's CEO a few years ago. I remember I pointed out a few of those issues, and his reply was that the only problem he could see with the app was that it wasn't "pretty enough" and it needed new icons.
I hope Eric is learning something from this situation and will pay more attention in the future, every business gets those moments, maybe not that publicly.
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#27I just set up passwords on Zoom rooms for a little room automation project I'm building. There's no drawbacks; you can send out a link that includes the password, so nobody gets left out (no matter how technically challenged). And, someone who "stumbles upon" the room can't just get access.
All in all, Zoom has done a lot of things right, given the extremely challenging competitive environment they're in.
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
When your product goes from being "a videoconferencing tool used in some workplaces" to "the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", it makes sense that there will be a lot of stories about it (good, bad and neutral) in the press.
>"the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", I would be curious to see an article about why this happened? Is Zoom better than their countless competitors? They all seem pretty similar in my experience so why is it Zoom that is blowing up because of this and not any of the other companies?
You don't need an article to estimate the direction from which The sun will rise tomorrow.
Zoom is better than the alternatives on most verticals and has good PR. In fact, justified privacy concerns aside, it's hands down the best vid. conference app I've ever used.
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
When your product goes from being "a videoconferencing tool used in some workplaces" to "the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", it makes sense that there will be a lot of stories about it (good, bad and neutral) in the press.
>"the primary way people communicate and gather for personal or professional reasons", I would be curious to see an article about why this happened? Is Zoom better than their countless competitors? They all seem pretty similar in my experience so why is it Zoom that is blowing up because of this and not any of the other companies?
Probably because it was so easy to use. In my professional capacity I have used probably a dozen different conference software, and Zoom is by far at/near the top in terms of stability, usability and client install experience.
Re: Trolls break into meetings on Zoom
#30https://mobile.twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1244985949534... Yes, shared by the Prime Minister, number and all. What a time to be alive.
Does Zoom let you put a password on the room? Could that room have a password that is only known to the participants?