Growing ‘Zoom-Bombing’ Incidents Prompt Warnings From the FBI

Yesterday, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan issued an apology for security lapses that have been reported this week and outlined what the company is doing to fix those problems and today, a CBC News report has highlighted how a growing number of so-called ‘Zoom-bombing’ incidents are prompting warnings from the FBI.

According to the report, users participating in meetings and lessons via Zoom are finding their screens hijacked by malicious actors who put racist or sexist words and images on the screen and in the chat box. 

Moreover, these Zoom-bombing incidents are becoming more frequent in Canada with “unidentified visitors” entering private online meetings and classrooms to spew racial and pornographic slurs.

Earlier this week, a 250-guest virtual town hall held by YWCA Canada to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on women was Zoom-bombed as well. 

“They started shouting racial epithets, they shouted the N-word,” said YWCA Canada CEO, Maya Roy. “Two YWCA employees were sexually harassed. Comments were made about them in the chat function.”

In response to these “video teleconferencing (VTC) hijacking” incidents, the FBI has now released a tip sheet that includes the following:

• Keep VTC meetings private by issuing users a password or employing the “waiting room” function, which requires the host to invite each guest individually.
• Don’t share invitation links on social media.
• Keep software updated to stay on top of any security patches provided by VTC companies.

Have you experienced something similar during a video conferencing call lately?