'Zoom-bombing' on video conferencing platform shakes victims

#Zoom; #videoConferencingTool; #remoteWork&Study; #FBI; #MaliciousAttacks; #Investigation

Ottawa, Apr 3 (Canadian-Media): Millions of people being forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Zoom, with its video conferencing tool for remote work and study, has emerged as an indispensable tool all across the world, media reports said.

Zoom meeting. Image credit: Twitter handle

Zoom Video Communications is an American remote conferencing services company, founded by Eric Yuan and headquartered in San Jose, California.

​Zoom's remote conferencing service combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaborations.

But warnings have been issued by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) due to a growing number of so-called Zoom-bombing incidents.

Warnings had also been issued  from the victims themselves.
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Zoom-bombing is the term used when people participating in meetings and lessons via video conference platforms like Zoom can find their screens hijacked by malicious actors who can put words, images, racial and sexist slurs,  on the screen and in the chat box that creates havoc with the audio.  

Increase in frequency of Zoom-bombing in Canada, which experts termed as "video teleconferencing (VTC) hijacking," prompted a warning from the FBI earlier this week.

The agency also released a tip sheet advising participants to keep VTC meetings private by issuing users a password or employing the "waiting room" function, which requires the host to invite each guest individually; not sharing invitation links on social media; keep software updated to stay on top of any security features provided by VTC companies.

. @FBI investigated cases of video hijacking known as “@Zoom-bombing”, in which hackers infiltrate video meetings, shouting racial slurs or threats. #Zoom is malware’: why experts worry about the video conferencing platform. https://t.co/azRnkttnOk via @guardiantech on @refindcom

— Lefteris Heretakis ⭐ (@heretakis) April 3, 2020

In the meantime Zoom's shares have doubled in price since the COVID-19 crisis erupted in January and has experienced record downloads.

Having been forced to apologize for not being forthcoming about its security limitations, Zoom says it's providing safety guidance for virtual classrooms and meetings.

But users have not been provided with additional controls to prevent harassment and online attacks.
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As these malicious attacks were mainly targeted to marginalized groups, there were suggestions that these be investigated as hate speech.

The FBI said these types of security invasions can have a lasting effect on people personally, but children in particular, can have a tough time understanding what happened and why.