Zoom is a potential modern day Trojan horse

In recent years Zoom has gained substantial market share in the United States — without much public awareness of its Network’s connection to the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) Networks and Zoom’s subservience to the PRC’s Laws.

Two undeniable facts

Zoom’s products and services are potentially controlled by the Chinese Government (the PRC [People’s Republic of China], which is controlled by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]), because of the following two facts:

  1. Zoom’s Network is directly connected to the PRC’s Networks in Hong Kong [14], which could provide the PRC with access to all of Zoom’s Infrastructure, Network and Systems.
  2. Zoom has publicly stated that they “must comply with local law” [Chinese Law] [10], since they operate in China. Zoom’s current Non-US Government Guide still supports their statement. It stipulates that Zoom must comply with a Non-US Government Request according to “the domestic law of the requesting country”, such as China [7]. Zoom has proven it will follow Chinese Law, even when it is a criminal violation of USA Law.

The combination of these two facts – Zoom’s Direct Connection to the PRC’s Networks and Zoom’s subservience to the PRC – potentially allow the CCP to control Zoom’s products & services, including access to all of the Data that is exposed within Zoom Meetings!

Department of Justice Ruling

On April 8th, 2025 the Department of Justice issued a new Final Rule [16] that prohibits access to U.S. Data by China (including Hong Kong). Zoom's Network is directly connected to China's networks (Hong Kong) [14] and therefore is potentially in violation of the new Rule!

In addition, the Rule looks to prevent the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) from using “technology products and services that it controls”, potentially such as those provided by Zoom [7,10].  According to the Fact Sheet of the Rule, the CCP's intent is to “use this data for cyber-attacks, blackmail, espionage, and intimidating activists, academics, political figures, and journalists, as well as enhancing military capabilities and for other malicious activities” … “ ‘on Americans to advance its AI goals’ and ‘surveil Americans as part of its campaign of transnational repression.’ ” … “[China] employ[s] advanced technologies like big-data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), [machine learning,] and high-performance computing to manipulate and exploit this data more effectively.” [15]

  • Zoom maintains direct connections to the Internet Networks of the People's Republic of China (PRC) — as shown in peering record below.
  • The large research and development department of Zoom Video Communications (700 employees) is based in China (PRC). [1,3]
  • Zoom illegally transferred users' information to the Chinese government (PRC). [2,3,11]
  • In some cases the keys used for encrypting Zoom meetings were issued by servers located in Beijing. [1]
    Findings from Citizen Lab's test [1]
Zoom office in China via Citizen Lab [1]

There are further troubling details:

  • Zoom's advertised “end-to-end” encryption, deemed deceptive by the Federal Trade Commission, allowed Zoom the ability to monitor meetings. [1,9,11]
  • Zoom requires download and installation of the desktop client for most features, which gives the software expanded access to your PC. [13]
  • Use of Zoom has been banned by entities such as NASA, Siemens and SpaceX, as well as the UK Ministry of Defence and the governments of Taiwan and Germany. [4,5,6]
  • Zoom's Government Requests Guide has loopholes which allow them to do whatever they want with their customer’s data and provide it to whatever country they work in, such as China, without disclosing this to their customers. [7,8,10]
  • Zoom can use AI to filter information for whatever use they see fit, including providing it to China. [12]
Anti-Zoom graphic from All Things Secured
Graphic from allthingssecured.com [11]

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sources
  1. https://citizenlab.ca/2020/04/move-fast-roll-your-own-crypto-a-quick-look-at-the-confidentiality-of-zoom-meetings/ ⟶
  2. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/press-release/file/1346966/dl?inline= ⟶
  3. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.456138/gov.uscourts.nyed.456138.8.0.pdf ⟶
  4. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/who-has-banned-zoom-google-nasa-and-more/ ⟶
  5. https://www.techradar.com/news/more-top-companies-ban-zoom-following-security-fears ⟶
  6. https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/25/concern-zoom-video-conferencing-mod-bans-security-fears-12455327/ ⟶
  7. https://www.zoom.com/en/industry/government/resources/gov-requests-guide/ ⟶
  8. https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/8/9/23824799/zoom-ai-privacy-return-to-office ⟶
  9. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/1923167zoomcomplaint.pdf ⟶
  10. https://www.axios.com/2020/06/10/zoom-closes-chinese-user-account-tiananmen-square ⟶
  11. https://www.allthingssecured.com/tips/stop-using-zoom/ ⟶
  12. https://www.caidp.org/cases/zoom/ ⟶
  13. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/04/18/zoom-remote-control-attack/ ⟶
  14. http://peeringdb.com/net/8731 ⟶
  15. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/media/1382526/dl ⟶
  16. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/08/2024-31486/preventing-access-to-us-sensitive-personal-data-and-government-related-data-by-countries-of-concern ⟶
  17. https://thehill.com/opinion/cybersecurity/532583-for-chinese-firms-theft-of-your-data-is-now-a-legal-requirement/ ⟶