Google bans Zoom from employees' computers

Post by lonelappde » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 4:55 AM UTC

mehrdada wrote: post #300

jiggawatts wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because it costs Google a nontrivial amount of money for every user. Google is the fourth biggest public company in the world as measured by market cap. A Microsoft 365 "E3" license is $20/user/month. They can afford it. This restriction is entirely about eating your own dogfood.

I'd seriously doubt more than a few of people at Google would want to use 365 at work. I for one never felt the need when I was there nor afterwards and the entire company is fully utilizing Google Docs which is a better product as far as sharing and search is concerned. It's not like people at Google constantly email .docx files to each other, lol. Nevertheless, you can request it (in an AppStore like fashion, not s…

Post by fulafel » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 5:00 AM UTC

Mvandenbergh wrote: post #196

jMyles wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google's threat model may not be your threat model, and it definitely isn't the threat model of my daughter's school. A corporation like Google may be concerned using native applications, written in unsafe languages, written by developers from other corporations in China. That said, Zoom isn't wrong for everyone. Google's threat model surely differs in some way from a school, but the specific threats you named seem…

The threat model for a school is kids/others disrupting sessions and creepers using access to gawp at (or communicate with kids). Since the Chinese government is unlikely to feel the need to compel Zoom to do that, the fact that they have all the keys centrally stored is not a problem. Google's threat model actually does include state level attack (And specifically by China) to steal IP or access confidential user da…

Post by mattip » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 5:05 AM UTC

jMyles wrote: post #207

Mvandenbergh wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The threat model for a school is kids/others disrupting sessions and creepers using access to gawp at (or communicate with kids). Since the Chinese government is unlikely to feel the need to compel Zoom to do that, the fact that they have all the keys centrally stored is not a problem. Google's threat model actually does include state level attack (And specifically by China) to steal IP or access confidential user da…

> The threat model for a school is kids/others disrupting sessions and creepers using access to gawp at (or communicate with kids). Not if the school actually cares about the future of its students. From a blog post[0] we published at NuCypher a while back: > If we fail to take action now, we risk a world in which unsavory actors - domestic and foreign - have built rich, comprehensive profiles for every one of our ch…

Post by jtaillon » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 5:09 AM UTC

ehsankia wrote: post #378

neil_s wrote: post #303

(disclaimer: I work at El Goog) A number of companies have rightfully banned Zoom's native apps, given how insecure they are. I had previously uninstalled it when the news about the secret web server they install came out. Google is still allowing use of the web app, but the web app bizarrely doesn't support Grid/Gallery View, which is the main reason my friends/family wanted to use it. Hangouts Meet was optimized fo…

I went from Zoom to Jitsi with my family, because I was tired of it pushing the desktop client to me and the webapp limitations as you point out. Jitsi web supports Grid view, as well as desktop sharing (with audio!). We've been playing Jackbox games over it just fine.

Post by dodobirdlord » Thu, Apr 09, 2020, 5:17 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #132

mulmen wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but it's also astonishing that was allowed before. If it's not needed for work why would it be installed? Why would any non-work software be allowed on corp laptops?

Because unlike most large workplaces that inhibit innovation and productivity and infantilize staff with an “anything not specifically permitted is prohibited” rule which also creates continuous work for a review and approval bureaucracy and guarantees that toolsets are outdated and improvements difficult to discover, Google apparently has an “everything not specifically prohibited is allowed” policy.