154 CHAPTER 3 E-commerce Infrastructure: The Internet, the Web, and the Mobile Platform

INSIGHT ON BUSINESS
ZOOM CONTINUES TO ZOOM

Prior to 2020, videoconferencing 500 employees, trailing only Skype. Schools

was a tool primarily used by busi- and colleges that canceled in-person classes
nesses to conduct remote meet- turned to Zoom and other platforms. Of all the
ings, and video chatting was a fun major videoconferencing platforms, Zoom con-
way to connect with family and friends. sistently earns the highest scores for reliability.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. The company’s freemium business model
Suddenly, videoconferencing became critical allows casual users to hold calls of up to 40
infrastructure and video chatting a lifeline for minutes in length. Zoom’s subscription plans for
the socially isolated. The trend has continued individuals and businesses are affordable, with
in 2022, even as life slowly returns to a “new a $14.99 plan offering extra features and other
normal.” Working remotely remains common- pricing plans for larger businesses that scale up
place. As a result, companies that provide these with higher usage.
services have seen a huge surge in demand. However, what’s really driven Zoom’s rapid
Foremost among them is Zoom, which had growth is its use as a social tool for friends and
already been gaining traction against the vid- family to keep in touch, as well as a much-
eoconferencing options offered by companies needed avenue for businesses that rely on
such as Skype (owned by Microsoft), Google personal interaction. Creative uses for Zoom
Chat, and Cisco’s Webex. Zoom has skyrocketed have included online play readings and perfor-
in popularity but at the same time faces serious mances, comedy shows, concerts, music les-
challenges based on concerns about its security sons, art shows, and church services. Yoga and
and privacy policies. other forms of exercise studios have flocked to
Zoom was founded in 2011 by Webex and Zoom to hold online classes. Zoom now resem-
Cisco Systems alumnus Eric Yuan. In 2019, bles a new type of social network: Users main-
the company went public, recorded an 88% tain and update friend lists, can view whether
increase in revenue, and added 1.9 million new friends are online, and can join public meetups.
users. However, the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020 Nevertheless, Zoom’s path has not been
propelled Zoom to new heights in usage. Zoom’s without some serious challenges. Maintaining
daily users skyrocketed from around 10 million high quality and reliable services in the midst of
in December 2019 to 200 million in April 2020. skyrocketing demand during a pandemic was
Zoom’s iOS app became the top free download critical, for both the company and its users.
in Apple’s App Store, with more than 2 million Zoom’s infrastructure is based both on data
people downloading it in a single day. centers that it leases from co-location/hosting
As people worldwide remained at home firm Equinix and on the public cloud (includ-
to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Zoom ing Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure,
became a critical tool for businesses of all and Oracle). To cope with the surging demand,
shapes and sizes to continue day-to-day Zoom had to scale up its usage of cloud services
operations. Zoom is the top videoconferencing and added two data centers to the 17 it already
software used by companies with 500 employ- was using. Maintaining the necessary network
ees or fewer and the second-most-popular bandwidth was a particular focus: Zoom histori-
software used by companies with more than cally keeps 50% more network capacity than its
 The Internet and Web: Features and Services 155

maximum actual usage. Zoom uses Equinix’s competitive advantages—how easy it is

Cloud Exchange Fabric, a software-defined net- to use (for example, the ability to join a call
work interconnection platform that allows Zoom with just one click)—is something that has
to easily connect to its infrastructure in other also made it vulnerable to attack.
Equinix data centers, as well as to other service To get a handle on the issues and prevent
providers, to boost capacity. Another focus users from flocking to other platforms, Zoom
has been on ensuring that end users are being temporarily froze development on all new
served by data centers located as physically feature upgrades to focus on its privacy and
close to them as possible, reducing latency, security practices. It rolled out a number of
which has the potential to degrade video quality. fixes for vulnerabilities (for example, amending
Security and privacy issues present par- its privacy policies and updating its iPhone app
ticularly significant challenges. As Zoom’s user to stop sending data to Facebook) and stated
base grew, so too did scrutiny of its privacy that it will continue to do so as it reevaluates
and security policies, which some experts the balance between ease of use and security.
considered to be so lax as to render Zoom It also released a new version of Zoom that fea-
akin to malware. For example, some privacy tures upgraded 256-bit AES-GCM encryption
advocates noted that Zoom’s terms of service and a waiting room feature designed to prevent
allowed personal data to be shared with adver- zoombombing.
tisers (and with Facebook when users logged Analysts believe that Zoom’s future is
in using their Facebook accounts) by default bright. Remote/hybrid work is likely to become
and argued that Zoom’s terms failed to comply a permanent fixture of life. Zoom added many
with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy new customers during the pandemic, and most
Act. Hackers also targeted Zoom users with of them are continuing to use its offerings, with
phishing attacks and exposed vulnerabilities Zoom reporting that it had more than half a mil-
in Zoom’s platform that allowed hackers to lion customers with more than 10 employees
join active meetings and gain access to user at the end of January 2022, an increase of 9%
webcams and microphones to engage in from 2021. Zoom’s revenue has skyrocketed
“zoombombing.” In 2022, Zoom agreed to pay from $622 million for its fiscal year ending on
$85 million and bolster its security practices January 31, 2020, to more than $4 billion for
to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated users’ the year ending on January 31, 2022. Its net
privacy rights. Zoom was also criticized for income has followed suit, increasing from just
touting its use of end-to-end encryption when $25 million to $1.375 billion. If Zoom contin-
in fact it used encryption for only a part of its ues on this trajectory, it is likely to take its place
data transfer processes. One of Zoom’s biggest in the pantheon of Big Tech giants.

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Fortune.com, June 9, 2022; “Zoom Agrees to ‘Historic’ $85 M Payout for Graphic Zoombombing Claims,” by Maya Yang, Theguardian.com, April 23, 2022;
“Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended January 31, 2022,” Sec.gov, March 7, 2022; “Zoom Security Issues Are a Wakeup Call for
Enterprises,” by Jeff Burt, Esecurityplanet.com, January 29, 2022; “Zoom Announces Version 5.0 with Improved Security and Control Features,” by Dev Kundaliya,
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Security, Privacy, CEO Says, as Usage Booms During Coronavirus Crisis,” by Mike Snider, April 2, 2020; “Zoom Meetings Aren’t End-to-End Encrypted, Despite
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Dropbox Are Staying Online During the Pandemic,” by Yevgenly Sverdlik, Datacenterknowledge.com, March 25, 2020; “For Artists, the Show Must Go On—and
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