Video Conferencing Apps Found Querying Mic Even When Muted
Summary
The paper shows that a number of popular apps used for voice and video chats keep monitoring the microphone even after the user pressed "mute". That doesnt automatically mean that someone can listen in on you, but researchers found out that the telemetry data transmitted during this monitoring process can be used to identify the background sound and activities that the user may be doing, and this can be performed with a high level of certainty. The list includes Discord, Ciscos Webex, Google Meet, Skype, and Microsoft Teams, as well as Slack and Zoom. The applications telemetry, transmitted as plain text, could also be intercepted by the researchers and used to identify user activity in the background. Cisco contacted Security Week who reported on the research paper and stated that the data monitored was limited to audio volume levels and gain and was only intended to "support the user experience and troubleshooting".
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