E-learning virtual meeting applications: A comparative study from a cybersecurity perspective

Abstract

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, the lockdown of all activities including schools and universities became a normal habit, forcing educational institutes to find new ways to ensure the continuity of the learning process. E-learning is considered the best choice at this stage whereas using video conferencing or virtual meeting applications (VM) apps is the most common solution. In this research, security issues and possible cyber-attacks that may occur due to the use of the most popular VM apps used by educational institutes (i.e., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google meet) are discussed. Moreover, the security features of these applications are briefly explained. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison from a cybersecurity perspective between VM apps was made. The results show that Google Meet was the most secure against cyber-attacks, followed by the Microsoft Teams and finally the Zoom app.