The Department of Information Security under the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications has advised people and organizations, especially state agencies and enterprises, against the use of Zoom software due to information insecurity, the Saigon Times reported.

Many businesses and organizations in Vietnam and in the world use Zoom for meetings and online learning during the Covid-19 period. Photo: TL

Zoom is a video meeting platform which is becoming popular worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic time for working from home and distance learning.

The warning was issued after the Department of Information Security recorded that more than 500,000 Zoom accounts were leaked or the users' personal information was stolen, including e-mail, password, the URL links of meetings and their passwords.

The department also said that Zoom contains some serious security holes such as poor terminal data encryption, easily being scanned for meeting IDs, holes related to UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path, among others.

Through the above-mentioned holes, hackers can gain unauthorized access to meeting rooms, monitor and spread malicious information, steal information or install malware directly on users' computers.

The Department of Information Security also recommended that organizations should prioritize online solutions provided by reputable businesses, especially those produced by major domestic businesses such as Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone.