Zoom improves password requirements and introduces longer meeting IDs in latest update

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What you need to know

  • Zoom has pushed out another weekly security update.
  • The latest iteration brings new and improved password requirements.
  • It has also improved meeting ID generation for increased privacy.

Zoom has issued the latest of its weekly updates regarding its push to make the platform more secure.

Last week, Zoom announced a collaboration with industry security experts from the likes of Netflix, Uber, and EA. Now, we are beginning to see the fruits of those labors.

In a blog post on April 14, Zoom announced updates to its password requirements, random meeting IDs and more. From the release:

Password requirements: For meetings and webinars, account owners and admins can now configure minimum meeting password requirements to adjust the minimum length and require letters, numbers, and special characters, or allow only numeric passwords. All free Basic accounts will have the alphanumeric option on by default.Random meeting IDs: One-time randomly generated meetings IDs for newly scheduled meetings and webinars will be 11 digits instead of nine. Your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) will remain the same.

Zoom has also updated Cloud recordings, turning on passwords by default for all accounts and enhancing password complexity.

Zoom has restored third-party file sharing after temporarily disabling the feature as part of its security review. It has also updated Zoom Chat so that users can hide the message preview for desktop chat notifications. If you turn it off, you'll get a notification about a message, but won't see the content of the message in the preview.

Zoom also says that it has fixed "issues related to missing data and delay on the Zoom Dashboard."

Zoom has endured a torrid time since its rise to prominence due to increased remote working and social-distancing/lockdown measures. Following its rise in popularity a swathe of security and privacy concerns were raised regarding the app, so much so that Zoom came forward to apologize, and vowed a 90-day new feature freeze whilst it reviewed its security.

Zoom has recently confirmed that since the pandemic, it has seen its usage uptake increase to more than 3 million daily downloads.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9