Zoom Announces Rollout of End-to-End Encryption

Zoom, the videoconferencing service that has practically become a household name since the pandemic took hold, has announced the rollout of end-to-end encryption (E2EE), beginning next week. According to the company, this is the first of a four-phase deployment, available both free and paid users.

Zoom first announced its E2EE plans in May. That and the subsequent announcement of two-factor authentication availability for all users followed early reports of security issues after use of the service grew dramatically in the first few weeks of the pandemic.

Zoom notes that communications are already encrypted: This rollout changes where the encryption keys are stored for each videoconference. Currently, the encryption keys are generated and distributed by Zoom's back-end video servers. In the new implementation, keys will be generated by the meeting's host; Zoom's servers will never see the encryption keys.

This initial rollout is being called a technical preview. Zoom is actively asking users for feedback during the initial 30 days of the program.

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