Zoom acquires secure messaging company to fix video chat encryption

To offer end-to-end encryption, Zoom is acquiring Keybase, a provider of secure messaging and file-sharing. Keybase staff will help build an end-to-end encryption system for Zoom’s video conferencing service, which will be available to paid users. 

The purchase, announced on Thursday, occurs weeks after Zoom admitted it actually wasn’t offering full encryption as previously advertised. The video conferencing service does encrypt your video sessions—scrambling the content as it's sent over an internet network and decrypting it to make the video data clear once it arrives on your computer. However, the main flaw with Zoom’s system is how the encryption keys are generated and stored on the company’s servers. Although Zoom says it's never mishandled the keys, by holding on to them, the company theoretically has the power to decrypt your video sessions, or transfer the keys to someone else, like a government authority.  Read more...