Zoom Buys Security Company Keybase

Zoom has acquired Keybase, a security and cryptography enterprise, weeks following the teleconferencing system confronted a backlash around worries about its privacypolicies.

The firms did not disclose the value tag.

In a weblog publish, Zoom known as the acquisition, “another milestone” in its “90-day strategy to more bolster the security of our online video communications system.” It reported it would provide an conclude-to-conclude encrypted meeting mode to all paid out accounts.

Under the conditions of the offer, Keybase co-founder Max Krohn will grow to be head of the Zoom security engineering staff, reporting to Zoom chief govt officer Eric Yuan. About two dozen Keybase staff members, most of them security engineers, will grow to be Zoom staff members. Keybase will grow to be a subsidiary of Zoom.

Zoom has confronted criticism around earlier claims about the conclude-to-conclude encryption of its online video calls. In late March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning about the hijacking of Zoom online video conferences, saying it experienced been given several stories of conferences being taken around by hackers working with the system to display inappropriate or threatening articles.

Very last month, the enterprise up to date its privacy policy amid worries from several states’ attorneys basic. On April 8, previous Fb security head Alex Stamos announced he was doing the job for Zoom as an outside specialist.

Zoom reported its greatest everyday meeting individuals jumped from about 10 million at the conclude of December to two hundred million in March as the coronavirus pandemic closed businesses and educational facilities and meetings moved on-line.

In an interview, Max Krohn reported Keybase’s existing customers are predominantly security and cryptography professionals, and its technological know-how requires to be simplified for Zoom’s broader consumer base.

“These are subtle difficulties and we have been doing the job on this challenge for approximately five several years, and nothing at all else,” he reported.

Keybase was established in 2014. The enterprise raised $10.8 million in a financing round in 2015, led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Maja Hitij/Getty Pictures

cybersecurity, Keybase, Zoom