Taiwan barred all official use of Zoom, becoming one of the first governments to impose an outright ban on the popular video-conferencing app over mounting security concerns.
Agencies should avoid using services such as Zoom as they may have security flaws, the island’s cabinet said in a statement Tuesday. Governments, companies and individuals around the world, including in Taiwan, have been using the app to conduct meetings remotely in an effort to minimize person-to-person contact amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Taiwan’s ban is the latest blow to San Jose-based Zoom Video Communications Inc. as it struggles to cope with an explosion in demand for its services. Millions of people have turned to the app as they work and study from home amid the global lockdown. But cybersecurity researchers have warned that security loopholes in the software could allow hackers to eavesdrop on meetings or commandeer machines to access secure files, and traffic from some users has been routed through data centers in China.