The White House uses the Zoom for government online meetings, but lawmakers and security are warning Biden about the national security risks associated with the platform, due to its connection to the Chinese.
Jim Banks, chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, recently sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, asking the administration to disclose which government meetings were held via Zoom and whether classified information in those meetings.
“Why is Zoom being used, rather than other alternatives, when agents of the Chinese Communist Party have infiltrated Zoom meetings in the past?” Banks asks in the letter.
Zoom became a topic of discussion at the Justice Department in December 2020 after authorities charged a Chinese Zoom employee, Xinjiang Jin, with spying on U.S. video calls theat behest of Chinese intelligence. Jin had close contact with Zoom executives.
According to the Justice Department, Jin's associates created fake accounts and disrupted video conferences with videos of terrorist attacks and child pornography. The Chinese government allegedly used information Jin provided to intimidate Zoom users living in China and the United States
Also, a human rights group told the Washington Post that a video conference on human rights in China was interrupted by Chinese Communist Party propaganda footage and pornographic videos.
“No company with significant business interests in China is free from the coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers.
For its part, Zoom told the Justice Department that it has taken certain steps to protect the data of American citizens. These include stronger encryption and geo-fencing procedures that ensure that American data is not routed through Zoom's data center in China.
Biden administration officials said the White House is using Zoom for Government, a more secure version of the platform with oversight from the Homeland Security Department and FedRAMP.
Zoom for Government “operates on a separate, secure infrastructure” that meets federal cybersecurity standards and stores all user information in U.S..
However, experts believe Zoom will continue to pose a risk as long as it has a data center in China. Research group Citizen Lab reported last year that the company has three Chinese subsidiaries and at least 700 employees in China.
“Zoom has made significant progress in cybersecurity, and for casual use by Americans, it’s probably fine,” said Klon Kitchen of the American Enterprise Institute. However, he stressed that in the case of the White House, cybersecurity is very important and should not be put at this risk.
The Trump administration also reportedly used Zoom, but many officials were cautious about using the platform, with those dealing with national security issues in particular avoiding it altogether.
A Zoom spokesperson reiterated in his statement that the White House uses Zoom for Government, which is a more more secure version.
“government U.S. through Zoom for Government, and all communications on this platform are located exclusively in data U.S. which are managed exclusively by U.S. individuals,” the spokesperson said. “Zoom for Government is also FedRAMP approved.”
Source: The Daily Caller
