Paying customers Zoom could get stronger encryption in the future

Video calling giant Zoom is considering giving paying customers and key institutions access to stronger encryption. The plan has not yet been finalized and the company is looking for an implementation that can continue to combat abuse of the platform.

Zoom argues that the consideration is a matter of technology, security and business factors. On the one hand, the company recognizes the value of extra-heavy encryption for educational institutions, non-profits and political dissidents, for example. “Currently, the plan is to provide additional encryption to paying and known enterprise customers.”

Not only is end-to-end encryption something that Zoom doesn’t want to make available for free because of abuse, it would also mean that users can no longer dial in by phone to join a Zoom meeting. Zoom’s accessibility is precisely one of its strengths at a time of a strong influx of such tools.

The possible extra-heavy encryption is separate from the aes 256-bit encryption with gcm that the company introduced for every user on May 30. On the technical side, Zoom has published a draft of its e2e crypto design.