SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is a volunteer attorney who provides free legal services for low income seniors in San Mateo County, California.

May 22, 2020

ZOOMBOMBING

“Zoom” is the name of a suddenly popular video chat app that allows multiple people to remotely join a conversation. It was designed for business use. It has become a boon for employees required to attend virtual meetings while working from home.

“Zoombombing” is a new crime spawned by hackers bent on invading or disrupting video conferences in many places.

Services other than Zoom could be vulnerable. Microsoft has a popular professional product called Teams, while Facebook recently joined the fray with its own version of multi-person video called Messenger Rooms.

How It works:

Hackers drop in on Zoom conversations and often disrupting them with insults and threats. They have thrown up pornographic images on participants’ screens. They can threaten security.

Tips aimed at organizers to counter the Zoombombers:

Tell your participants not to publicize the meeting, especially with links, on social networks.

Be cautious and aware of all meeting participants. Make sure you know them and why they are there.

Do not allow participants to join the meeting before you do — or to hang around afterwards.

Use the software’s “waiting room” feature, that allows you to review participants before virtually opening the door to them.

For meetings where not everyone is known, do not allow use of virtual backgrounds (downloaded from the Internet) because intruders might use them to post inappropriate messages.

Your safety feature may allow you to place a would-be participant on “hold” and unable to take part until you have established their credentials.

Be wary about how you name meetings. Zoombombers are good at guessing them and sneaking in, especially if you use family or business names. Zoom has its own mechanism for generating meeting names that you can use.

Consider using entry passwords. They are a must for meetings that include children.

Once meetings are in action, there are several controls available to organizers including the ability to mute one or more participants, turning off whiteboard sharing and disabling file transfers during chat, to prevent Zoombombers from sending malware to others taking part.

For a full Consumer Reports article, visit www.https://www.consumerreports.org/video-conferencing-services/how-to-prevent-zoombombing/

ATTRIBUTION: scambusters.org