Elon Musk's SpaceX bans Zoom over security and privacy concerns

Bobby Yip/Reuters

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

• Elon Musk's SpaceX has banned its staff from using Zoom amid security concerns, disabling all company access to Zoom with immediate effect.
• In a 48-hour period, reports surfaced that Zoom didn't use end-to-end encryption for its video meetings and had allowed thousands of strangers to see each other's email addresses.
• It's also been suggested that attackers can use the Zoom Windows client to steal network credentials.
• In a statement on its website, Zoom said it was "looking into each and every one" of the security concerns raised and "addressing them as expeditiously as we can."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There's no room for Zoom at SpaceX, it would seem.

Elon Musk's aerospace manufacturing firm has banned its staff from using Zoom over security concerns and has reportedly disabled all company access to the video-conferencing service with immediate effect.

According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, SpaceX staff have been told to use email, text or phone instead.

In a whirlwind 48-hour period this week, reports surfaced that Zoom didn't use end-to-end encryption for its video meetings and had leaked thousands of email addresses to strangers.

It's also been suggested that attackers can use the Zoom Windows client to steal network credentials.

The security concerns have emerged despite - or perhaps because of - a huge surge in Zoom use around the world. Likely driven by a coronavirus-induced increase in remote working, Zoom has reportedly gained more users in 2020 than in the whole of 2019.

In a statement on its website published Wednesday, Zoom founder Eric Yuan said the firm was "looking into each and every one" of the security concerns raised and "addressing them as expeditiously as we can."

"We did not design the product with the foresight that, in a matter of weeks, every person in the world would suddenly be working, studying, and socializing from home," he added.

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