GEC NEWS WIRESending and sharing data is a sensitive matter, one that requires tailored innovation for adequate protection. That’s why Zoom’s released key features — such as data routing control, in-product privacy notifications, end-to-end encryption (E2EE), to give customers more insight and control over their information.
And now, Zoom is excited to expand end-to-end encryption to both Zoom Phone and Breakout Rooms — two more ways to use Zoom to achieve seamless and secure communication.
Users will have a new option to upgrade to E2EE during one-on-one, intra-account phone calls that occur via the Zoom client. During a call, users can select “More” and see an option to elevate the session to an end-to-end encrypted phone call. The upgrade takes a second and helps add an extra layer of privacy to phone calls occurring over Zoom. Additionally, users will have the option to verify E2EE status by providing a unique security code to one another.
When enabled, end-to-end encryption uses the same Secure Real-time Transport Protocol with 256-bit AES-GCM encryption that supports standard Zoom Phone calls to encrypt call media between callers using Zoom desktop and mobile clients. The difference is that the cryptographic keys are known only to the devices of the callers.
To successfully elevate a Zoom Phone call to be end-to-end encrypted, users need to have a few things in place first:
- The account admin will have to turn on E2EE via the web portal
- Callers will need to be on the same Zoom account, and can only make one-to-one phone calls
- Both callers will need to use the Zoom Phone desktop or mobile client, PSTN and hardware devices are not supported
- Both the callers will need to have automatic call recording turned off
Want to host an E2EE meeting, but hoping to break participants into groups for smaller, focused discussions? This is now possible as E2EE for Zoom Meetings has expanded to Breakout Rooms.
It will be the same experience as a standard E2EE meeting, except each breakout room gets its own unique meeting encryption key. Users can use this feature when they need to add an extra layer of security to important, private conversations, or just want to get certain people together during an E2EE meeting.
Whether it’s E2EE for Zoom Phone and Breakout Rooms, our account theft protection tool, or automatic updates — Zoom is striving to make security accessible for everyone. These are just a handful of the easy-to-use tools that users can use to help safeguard your information while maintaining the flexible, reliable Zoom experience. Zoom’s frictionless, innovative design isn’t mutually exclusive with a strong security posture — in fact, they’re one and the same.
