Zoom data sold on dark web for 1p per account

THE details of more than half a million Zoom accounts are being offered for sale on the internet’s dark web to cyber criminals looking to hack into confidential video meetings.

Crooks can buy usernames, passwords and other data to break into private online meetings and steal sensitive information from banks, financial firms and even universities.

The popularity of Zoom, which connects people via video or audio calls on computers and smartphones, has soared as Covid-19 restrictions force people to work from home.

It now hosts more than 200million online meetings a day – up from 10million last year.

But investigators from cyber security firm Cyble discovered more than half a million Zoom accounts on sale for less than a penny per account. They included confidential details for employees of international banks including Citibank and Chase.

It is the latest in a string of security failures that have prompted major companies and even the UK Government to abandon the app.

The company’s value has doubled to more than £38billion since January, but Zoom’s China-born founder Eric Yuan, 50, estimated to be worth £4.6billion, has been forced to apologise for numerous security breaches.

In Britain, Parliament has been advised by the National Cyber Security Centre, part of intelligence agency GCHQ, that Zoom should only be used for public business.

Zoom did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.