German foreign ministry restricts use of Zoom over security concerns: report

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German foreign ministry has restricted use of the video conferencing service Zoom , saying in an internal memo to employees that security and data protection weaknesses made it too risky to use, newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday.

The memo added that since the system was in widespread use among the ministry’s international partners, it was currently impossible to ban its use entirely and that in crises employees could use it on private machines for professional purposes.

“Based on media reports and our own findings we have concluded that Zoom’s software has critical weaknesses and serious security and data protection problems,” read the memo cited by Handelsblatt.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Michelle Martin)