Zoom Workplace
Zoom lets you make video calls, join online meetings, send messages and share your screen. It’s made by Zoom Communications, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from zoom.us.
What it is
Zoom Workplace is Zoom’s desktop app for meetings and chat. People use it to speak on video, exchange messages and files, and share their screens.
With your permission, it can use your camera and microphone, capture your screen and computer audio, and access files for sharing or saving recordings. Accessibility access supports remote control during meetings.
Zoom publishes security fixes and recommends keeping the app updated. Fake Zoom installers have also carried malware, so use Zoom’s official download page.
Who makes it
Zoom is a public communications software company founded in 2011 and based in San Jose, California. Its legal name is Zoom Communications, Inc.. Its website is zoom.com.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
The real Zoom Workplace is signed by Zoom Video Communications, Inc., Apple team ID BJ4HAAB9B3. A copy signed by anyone else isn’t from Zoom Communications. HARD’s Mac app checks this for you; to check by hand, open Terminal and run codesign -dv "/Applications/Zoom Workplace.app", and look for that TeamIdentifier.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is us.zoom.xos. Download it only from zoom.us, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. In September 2026, Jamf reported CloudSyncD malware disguised as a Zoom installer for Mac. It used a fake password prompt to launch a backdoor with administrator privileges.
What it connects to
In normal use, Zoom Workplace talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
*.zoom.us | Zoom services and meeting connections |
*.zoom.com | Zoom services |
*.hcaptcha.com | Checks against automated abuse |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Camera | To send your video during meetings and webinars. |
| Microphone | To send your voice during meetings and webinars. |
| Screen & System Audio Recording | To share your screen and computer audio. |
| Files and Folders | To share files in chat and save recordings on your Mac. |
| Accessibility | To let another participant remotely control your Mac during a meeting. |
Security record
Problems with Zoom Workplace or Zoom Communications in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A certificate checking flaw in My Notes could expose information over the network; Zoom fixed it in versions 7.2.0 and 7.1.9. | ↗ | |
| A memory flaw in a Zoom Phone feature could let an attacker gain higher privileges over the network; Zoom fixed it in version 7.2.0. | ↗ | |
| An annotation memory flaw could let a meeting participant run code on another participant’s device; Zoom fixed it in versions 7.1.5 and 7.0.6. | ↗ | |
| A separate annotation memory flaw could let a meeting participant run code on another participant’s device; Zoom fixed it in versions 7.1.0 and 7.0.6. | ↗ |
References
- Zoom Media Kit zoom.com
- Zoom Investor FAQs zoom.gcs-web.com
- Automox: Naming Scheme for Third-Party Software Packages docs.automox.com
- Zoom Chat app features zoom.com
- Installing the Zoom desktop app on macOS support.zoom.com
- Granting macOS permissions for Zoom support.zoom.com
- Automatic update release frequencies support.zoom.com
- Release notes for the Zoom Workplace app support.zoom.com
- Zoom network firewall or proxy server settings support.zoom.com
- hCaptcha: About the service hcaptcha.com
- Jamf: CloudSyncD macOS backdoor hidden in a fake Zoom installer jamf.com
- Zoom ZSB-26022: Improper Certificate Validation zoom.com
- Zoom ZSB-26020: Buffer Overflow zoom.com
- Zoom ZSB-26017: Use After Free zoom.com
- Zoom ZSB-26015: Buffer Over-write zoom.com
- The signature on a real installed copy, read by HARD with
codesign.