Zoom Buys Security Company Keybase

Zoom has obtained Keybase, a protection and cryptography business, weeks right after the teleconferencing system confronted a backlash over considerations about its privacypolicies.

The organizations did not disclose the value tag.

In a blog site put up, Zoom termed the acquisition, “another milestone” in its “90-working day strategy to more bolster the protection of our video communications system.” It stated it would offer an conclude-to-conclude encrypted meeting method to all paid out accounts.

Underneath the terms of the offer, Keybase co-founder Max Krohn will turn into head of the Zoom protection engineering staff, reporting to Zoom main govt officer Eric Yuan. About two dozen Keybase staff, most of them protection engineers, will turn into Zoom staff. Keybase will turn into a subsidiary of Zoom.

Zoom has confronted criticism over preceding statements about the conclude-to-conclude encryption of its video phone calls. In late March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning about the hijacking of Zoom video conferences, declaring it experienced received multiple experiences of conferences being taken over by hackers making use of the system to screen inappropriate or threatening articles.

Very last month, the business up-to-date its privateness policy amid considerations from multiple states’ attorneys basic. On April 8, previous Fb protection head Alex Stamos introduced he was doing work for Zoom as an outdoors specialist.

Zoom stated its most everyday meeting members jumped from about ten million at the conclude of December to two hundred million in March as the coronavirus pandemic shut businesses and universities and meetings moved on-line.

In an job interview, Max Krohn stated Keybase’s present-day end users are predominantly protection and cryptography industry experts, and its technology desires to be simplified for Zoom’s broader consumer base.

“These are delicate problems and we have been doing work on this difficulty for roughly five yrs, and nothing at all else,” he stated.

Keybase was launched in 2014. The business lifted $ten.8 million in a funding round in 2015, led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Maja Hitij/Getty Photos

cybersecurity, Keybase, Zoom