PLDT not blocking Zoom for customers

ZOOM. The Zoom video meeting and chat app has become the wildly popular host to millions of people working and studying from home during the coronavirus outbreak. Photo by Olivier Douliery/AFP

MANILA, Philippines – PLDT on Saturday, April 4, clarified that the company is not blocking video conferencing application Zoom for customers.

In a twist of irony, an internal PLDT memo meant only for employees, announcing the blocking of Zoom for its privacy issues, leaked online. "Please be guided accordingly to avoid privacy disaster within PLDT and Smart," the memo ended, signed by its chief information security officer, Angel Redoble. (READ: Zoom under scrutiny in U.S. over privacy, porn hacks)

It also said that Zoom is "now considered as a malware."

Receiving inquires from the public, PLDT came out with a statement to clarify that the block is internal only, and customers will still be able to use Zoom should they choose to do so. The post is below:

Zoom became popular as global lockdowns due to the coronavirus forced people to rely on video conferencing apps to stay connected. But as users increased, reports started to surface on its myriad of vulnerabilities such as the lack of true end-to-end encryption, and unsecured lines that allow hackers to break into conferences. (READ: Zooming out: Video chat apps aren’t perfect, but we need them anyway)

Zoom has announced that it's stopping feature development at the moment to focus on patching these security gaps. – Rappler.com