VirnetX releases secure conferencing solution to thwart ‘Zoom bombing’

Today, internet security software and technology company VirnetX announced the launch of War Room, a new security video conferencing solution backed by over 194 patents to protect critical data, applications and services. 

VirnetX’s zero-trust solution offers decision-makers a tool they can use to create encrypted networks between users and their devices to ensure that rooms are only visible to authorized users with secure domain names that hide applications from external hackers. 

In short, the solution validates and certifies authorized users, to ensure that only users on authenticated devices can access a room. 

The release comes amid an uptick in Zoom bombing, most recently with hackers hijacking a Democrat virtual candidate forum with pornographic images and ex-Peloton employees crashing one of the company’s virtual all-hands meetings.

Putting an end to zoom bombing 

Ever since the mass adoption of cloud collaboration tools and video conferencing solutions during the pandemic, hackers have used Zoom bombing to gain access to these private rooms so they can disrupt discussions or eavesdrop on sensitive communications. 

This form of attack is so common that back in 2020, the FBI‘s Boston office warning in 2020 that it had “received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.”

Since then, eavesdropping has remained unaddressed to the point where Zoom agreed to reach an $85 million settlement over Zoom bombing, and sharing personal data with Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn. 

As of 2022, the momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing down. “There have been well-publicized Zoom bombing incidents. Recently, Peloton encountered a meeting snafu when former employees crashed an all-hands meeting. The disgruntled workers reportedly left angry comments in the chat function which ultimately led to the meeting ending early,” said Kendall Larsen, CEO, president and chairman of VirnetX. 

“War room answers the call for businesses to deploy a secure virtual meeting space. Such an incident would not happen on a War Room account — even if a user had access to the meeting link ‘shared’ with them from an invited attendee — the user wouldn’t have access to the meeting since this requires an invitation from the host,” he said. 

Making video conferencing ‘Zoom bomb’-proof 

VIrtnetX’s War Room solution is part of the video conferencing market, which researchers anticipate will grow from a valuation of $6 billion in 2021 to reach nearly $13 billion by 2028, as demand for visual communication capabilities increases with more organizations embracing remote working and integrating advanced cloud, IoT and AI technologies. 

The largest video conferencing provider in the world is Zoom, which announced third quarter total revenue of $1.05 billion, and reported having 2,507 customers contributing more than $100,000 in trailing 12 months revenue, and 512,000 customers with over 10 employees. 

Another is Microsoft Teams, which last year reached 250 million monthly active users, up from 145 million daily active users in April 2021, as Microsoft announced revenue of $51.7 billion. 

Yet while these video conferencing solutions have boomed in popularity, their lack of built-in security features have left them vulnerable to persistent cyber criminals and malicious internal actors. 

“Unlike other video conferencing platforms, War Room ensures work can continue as normal while prioritizing user safety and information security within a private, secure, and simple-to-use virtual environment,” Larsen began. “War Room provides secure video conferencing with a comprehensive security posture to prevent cyberattackers from accessing critical and sensitive information.”