Analysis of Zoom Security
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Before the COVID-19 pandemic zoom had achieved little success in penetrating the social media scene, the pandemic restricted limited social interactions, and people were forced to work from home. Therefore, companies, corporations, schools, and various groups had to look for new ways of holding meetings. Zoom`s ease of use and quality connections made it the application of choice to conduct virtual meetings. Nonetheless, several unethical actions by the company have raised concerns about the application.
Several reports of strangers invading unsecured zoom meetings, often-using unjustified means, have been a significant concern. Moreover, the company has integrity issues where it lied that its connections were encrypted from end to end while developing the application. In addition, after uninstalling the application from Macs, the code remained. The application is also reported to have bugs that could make the user`s microphone and camera vulnerable to hackers’ attacks. Therefore this paper discusses how zoom acted unethically by applying the ACM code. The paper also uses the sociotechnical systems (STS) perspective to analyze the details of Zoom’s security problems. In addition, recommendations on how the company could have handled the situation better are included.
Sociotechnical systems are an artificial intelligence tool that identifies patterns of how a particular technology`s production and use. After identifying these patterns, analysts can proceed to analyze ethical issues associated with a particular technology. In this case, the zoom is the technology in question, which is a technology used to conduct online meetings. STS comprises of various components, sometimes very closely related. Their differences are very slim because of the close relationships they share. Some of these aspects include; hardware, software, physical surrounding, people, procedures, laws and regulations, and data and data structures.
Hardware comprises the physical structures of a system such as computers, servers, workstations, and peripherals. All sociotechnical systems have a hardware component. In this case, zooms hardware components include personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, and the physical infrastructure of the system’s networks. Zoom compromised on the security of the hardware components, especially personal computers, and smartphones. This is because the application had bugs that made the microphone and the camera of user`s devices vulnerable to hacking. Recently software and hardware components are becoming increasingly hard to differentiate. The software always manipulates hardware to perform its commands, i.e., storage of data. For example, the zoom application has the capacity to manipulate the camera and microphone of the users. The users’ devices’ security was compromised when the application code remains after it has been uninstalled from devices.
People in STS include groups, individuals, and agencies and the roles of these people. Zoom meetings are greatly affected by this aspect because it involves people. The system compromised the security of this factor by allowing strangers to access unsecured zoom meetings. As a result, the privacy of sessions in zoom could not be guaranteed.
The procedures aspect of a sociotechnical system involves models both actual and official. The ways requirements are documented, how relationships are reported, the rules and normalcies, and how data flows are part of procedures. Procedures define how things are conducted in any organization. While attempting to understand the sociotechnical systems, it is vital first to understand actual and official implementation rules. Moreover, norms of how to conduct things often exist that are not usually specified but vital in helping organizations work. Understanding these norms for the case of zoom, for example, allows individuals to know how to get answers about technical issues, make complaints, and to be able to express objections.
Another essential aspect of STS is rules and regulations similar to procedures but have a particular purpose. For instance, there might be laws on how to protect data privacy or regulations of how to conduct meetings in the zoom. These laws and regulations are passed and implemented by governments and societies. Zoom deviated from these rules by allowing strangers to enter zoom meetings hence compromising on privacy. User privacy was also compromised by leaving out loopholes that hackers could use to access user devices’ microphones and cameras.
Leaders of technical organizations and groups should take their responsibilities seriously because they influence the broader society. Therefore, procedures to promote the society`s welfare. The ACM code of ethics is designed to keep in check all practitioners’ conduct in the technical or computing profession. In addition, when violations occur, the code can be used as a reference point to remedy the situation accordingly. The code is basically a collection of productivity principles that are concerned with the public good as the basic point of consideration.
In this case, of zoom that did not act ethically and violations occurred, the ACM code is a great tool to identify and correct those issues. First, the company broke the ethical principle of avoidance of harm. The system had bugs and errors that left the users microphone and camera vulnerable to hackers. The hackers could cause harm to these users if they wished using data collected from their devices. Also, reports that strangers could access zoom meetings and cause disruptions using abusive and lewd means. This is a clear indication of harm that violates the ACM code`s principle of avoiding damage.
The second ethical violation involved the principle of honesty and trustworthiness. During the development stages of zoom, the company falsely claimed that the application supported end-to-end encryption. The company violated the code by making deliberately misleading claims and falsifying data.
Zoom also violated the ethical principle of respect for privacy by allowing strangers to access unsecured zoom meetings. Also, the application having bugs that could allow hackers to access the user`s microphone and camera violated the respect to privacy principle. The principle requires zoom to be conversant with various forms and definitions of privacy. They should put in place measures to ensure that unauthorized access and disclosure by accident of user privacy and data.
To avoid acting unethically, the company should have followed the following recommendations. The first zoom should have applied the ACM code of ethics fully to counter check all its actions to ensure integrity. And secondly, the company should have comprehensively understood the dynamics of a sociotechnical system to guarantee the zoom application’s security.
In conclusion, zoom acted unethically by violating the ACM code ethical principles of avoiding harm, being honest and trustworthy, and respecting privacy.