LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Many schools, businesses, and families are turning to video conferencing platforms like the Zoom app to communicate, but this is raising questions about the security of these platforms.
Wednesday, the Clark County School District decided to ban teachers from using Zoom because it's deemed unsafe, and now teachers are scrambling to find a new way to teach students.
The use of the Zoom app has exploded during the past few weeks, with more people practicing social distancing and working from home.
RELATED: Clark County School District discontinues use of Zoom
Heard Elementary School teacher Vicki Kreidel has been using it to teach class, making sure she protects students while doing so.
"I made sure that I had everything set up for security so that anytime anybody comes into my Zoom, they're in a waiting area," she said.
However, CCSD says it removed zoom from being an approved online teaching platform, due to security concerns.
CCSD release the following statement:
"The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our top priority. CCSD made the decision to disable access to Zoom out of an abundance of caution due to instances of hacking that created unsafe environments for teachers and students. Understanding that Zoom is a valuable tool utilized by our school communities, we are looking at options to strengthen security precautions to potentially reopen access. CCSD is also developing additional tutorial materials for all platforms currently recommended for distance learning."
Kreidel feels the district's decision was reactionary, after training on it for a few weeks.
"They're pulling this out two days before spring break, instead of waiting to see if Zoom could adequately protect everybody by installing this patch," she said.
Kreidel feels the district's decision was reactionary after training on it for a few weeks.
"They're pulling this out two days before spring break, instead of waiting to see if Zoom could adequately protect everybody by installing this patch," she said.
The FBI is warning of reported incidents where unauthorized people have crashed Zoom meetings and posted inappropriate content.
Zoom founder Eric Yuan addressed the concerns on Twitter, saying security features should be enabled when conducting a meeting. He also wrote in part in the Zoom blog, apologizing for the security issues saying the company is taking it seriously, addressing them as fast as they can.
CCSD, in the meantime, is asking teachers to use other approved platforms instead, but security expert Adam Coughran says all online platforms have inherent risks.
"Zoom meetings and other types of meetings have similar identities to them that hackers or other people can enter a random set of numbers and maybe they'll get lucky and find their way into a meeting of someone else," he said.
Kreidel says the challenge of online teaching has made things difficult already and wishes the district could have been more patient.
"Teachers are honestly doing the best they can with the tools that we were given, and so when things keep changing, it's just frustrating for the students, and it's frustrating for us," she said.
