Zoom sued for hiding security flaws, including alleged vulnerability to hackers

Zoom has been slapped with a lawsuit that accuses the video chat app of hiding security and privacy flaws. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, shareholder Michael Drieu accused Zoom of having "inadequate data privacy and security measures" and falsely asserting that the service was end-to-end encrypted. 

As a result, Zoom users faced an increased risk of having personal information accessed by "unauthorized parties," according to the court filing. Drieu also claimed that media reports and public admissions by the company on security problems have caused Zoom's stock price to plummet. 

Zoom sued for hiding security flaws, including alleged vulnerability to hackers Picture 1

The company's shares closed down about 7.5% at $113.75 on Tuesday after hitting a record high in late March.

Neither Zoom nor an attorney for Drieu responded immediately to requests for comment. 

The video chat app's security issues have come into focus in recent weeks as more people turn to Zoom to work and socialize from home during thecoronavirus pandemic. One of the biggest problems has been "Zoombombing," when uninvited guests break into and disrupt meetings. 

As criticism of the service mounted, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan last week outlined a plan to address the security issues in the next 90 days. On Wednesday, Yuan said Zoom had officially formed a cybersecurity advisory board to guide it on issues and best practices, and that cybersecurity expert Alex Stamos has joined the company as an outside advisor to help perform a security review.