Zoom Video Communications has opened a new data center in Singapore after the region briefly halted the use of the videoconferencing superstar for home-based education following reports that hackers were breaking in and posting obscene images.
The opening of Zoom’s first data center in Southeast Asia comes as the San Jose, California-based company sees a surge in usage and demand stemming from the Coronavirus pandemic, which has caused a spike in remote working around the world. Since January, Zoom has seen a 65-fold increase in users of its free service in Singapore as well as a tripling of the amount of paying customers in the region.
In April, Singapore temporarily suspended the use of Zoom by educators after reported incidents of hackers posting obscene images on screens during virtual classes.
In addition, Zoom said this year that it had mistakenly routed some video meeting traffic through servers in China, which caused backlash from several government agencies as well as other companies over fears of Chinese surveillance.
Zoom, for its part, recently cut off its direct sales force in mainland China and will only be selling online videoconferencing services in the country through authorized third-party partners.
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