The National Cyber Coordination Centre issues guidelines against Zoom app
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Cybersecurity
In News:
The National Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued a set of guidelines for safe usage of Zoom – a web based video conferencing tool.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory that the Zoom is not a safe platform.
Key takeaways:
USA based ZOOM video communication has seen an exponential rise in usage in India as office-goers remain at home owing to the present lockdown.
The software used in the online platform is said to be made in China and some calls were being routed through servers in China.
Important value additions:
The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC)
The NCCC was developed in 2017.
It is an operational cybersecurity and e-surveillance agency in India.
It is intended to screen communication metadata (little snippets of information hidden inside each communication) and co-ordinate the intelligence gathering activities of other agencies.
Some have expressed concern that the body could encroach on Indian citizens’ privacy and civil-liberties, given the lack of explicit privacy laws in the country.
Components of the NCCC include:
a cybercrime prevention strategy,
cybercrime investigation training and
review of outdated laws.
Indian and U.S. intelligence agencies are also working together to curb misuse of social media platforms in the virtual world by terror groups
Zoom
It is a web-based video conferencing tool with a local, desktop client and a mobile app that allows users to meet online, with or without video.
