Zoom controversy: Institutes look for options amid reports of hacking, popping of objectionable links

With the Union ministry of home affairs issuing an advisory on Thursday stating Zoom was not a secure videoconferencing platform, schools and colleges have started taking precautions

City’s students and teachers had turned to US-based Zoom application for online classes amid the Covid-19 lockdown. However, Zoom was soon discovered to have many security loopholes.

With the Union ministry of home affairs issuing an advisory on Thursday stating Zoom was not a secure videoconferencing platform, schools and colleges have started taking precautions.

A student of Punjab Engineering College, requesting anonymity, said, “During an online class, a third party accessed the system window with a pornographic name and objectionable content was displayed. We think the system was hacked during the Zoom call.”

KB DAV School principal Pooja Prakash said, “We have issued instructions to the parents regarding the Zoom App. We are using our school website to disseminate the content to the students. We are also trying to create our own software, which will be ready soon.”

Vineeta Arora, principal of Bhavan Vidyalaya, said, “We are making our own audio-visual lessons. We are also using the Snap app, Skype and occasionally zoom. We are also going introduce the Next Education software.”

She said, “We had anyway minimised use of Zoom from the beginning of the month.”

PU issues advisory

In wake of the MHA advisory, Panjab University (PU) on Friday issued an advisory to all its departments to avoid using Zoom.

“There is a concern among the teachers regarding the Zoom application now. We are evaluating other options for online teaching,” said Tejinder Pal Singh, associate professor at University Business School of PU.

Besides issuing advisory to departments, an online webinar was also cancelled by the university.

Teachers evaluating other options

However, teachers at Panjab University are evaluating other online platforms for teaching purpose. Professor Jatinder Grover of department of education, said, “There are other options which can be used for videoconferencing. Yesterday I had taken a class on Zoom, but now I have turned to WebEx wherein around 100 people can interact at one time.”

Vishal Sharma, assistant professor at forensic science department of PU, said, “We are evaluating other platforms which can be used for online teaching. I had told the chairpersons on Thursday about various safety measures too.”