FBI Warns of ‘Zoom Bombing’ on Most Used Video Conferencing App

Zoom Bombing News: Zoom has become a popular meeting place virtually as a result of the Stay-at-Home policies and regulations. 

The technology helped a lot of family members connect and business sectors as well as the public like this virtual place for doing their meetings. 

However, with this trend comes also a problem for Zoom users called Zoom bombing. 

What is it, and how can you deal with this kind of problem?

Let’s start first with Zoom, and it is currently the most used conference service allowing users to talk to each other all at once. Whereas, a zoom bombing is when a stranger suddenly comes and join into your meeting and chat and start blabbering around. 

So, it is like a photobomber in a photo, but it is way worse. These total strangers could sometimes be sharing different images like pornographic or something inappropriate. Others would also join in the conversation and say hateful words. These kinds of situations could happen with young kids doing Zoom.

The FBI has also warned already the public about the Zoom bombing after two schools have seen their online classes distracted by other bombers. 

“In late March 2020, a Massachusetts-based high school reported that while a teacher was conducting an online class using the teleconferencing software Zoom, an unidentified individual(s) dialed into the classroom. This individual yelled a profanity and then shouted the teacher’s home address in the middle of instruction. A second Massachusetts-based school reported a Zoom meeting being accessed by an unidentified individual.” 

Their statement continued, “In this incident, the individual was visible on the video camera and displayed swastika tattoos.”

To help prevent this, here are some tips from The Verge:

If you schedule a meeting from the web interface, you won’t see the option to disable screen sharing. Instead:

• Click on “Settings” in the left-hand menu
• Scroll down to “Screen sharing” and under “Who can share?” click “Host Only”
• Click on “Save”

Business Insider recommended that users “account management > account setting,” find the “waiting room” button, and turn it on. That way, the host can allow participants who are invited and weed out those people who are not invited.

Forbes also recommended:

“For those private hosting meetings, password protections are on by default, and we recommend that users keep those protections on to prevent uninvited users from joining. We also encourage users to report any incidents of this kind directly so we can take appropriate action.”

Zoom told ABC that they should report such incidents so that appropriate action will be taken. The company said, “We take the security of Zoom meetings seriously, and we are distraught to hear about the incidents involving this type of attack. For those hosting large, public group meetings, we strongly encourage hosts to review their settings and confirm that only the host can share their screen.” Additionally, “For those private hosting meetings, password protections are on by default, and we recommend that users keep those protections on to prevent uninvited users from joining.”

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