FBI warns of teleconferencing, online classroom hijacking during COVID-19 pandemic

Video teleconferencing and online classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic are being hijacked by people posting pornography, hate images and threatening language, according to the FBI.

Reports of hijacking — or “Zoom bombing” — are emerging nationwide as a growing number of people turn to video teleconferencing on platforms such as Zoom.com to hold business meetings and classes and to stay connected, the FBI said Monday.

The FBI said it has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornography, hate images and threatening language.

In late March, a Massachusetts high school reported that while a teacher was conducting an online class using Zoom, an unidentified person dialed into the classroom, yelled a profanity and then shouted the teacher’s home address, according to the FBI.

Another Massachusetts school reported a Zoom meeting being accessed by an unidentified person displaying swastika tattoos.

The FBI did not identify the schools because it is treating them as victims, spokeswoman Kristen Setera said. Zoom did not immediately return a request seeking comment.

“We want people to exercise due diligence when hosting these meetings and classes,” Setera said. “If you are a victim of a hijacking, we want to know about it so that we can investigate.”

The FBI advised taking the following precautions:

• Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password, or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.
• Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted, publicly available social-media post. Give the link directly to specific people.
• Manage screen-sharing options. In Zoom, change screen-sharing to “host only.”
• Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. Zoom updated its software in January. In its security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.
• Lastly, ensure that your organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.

If you were a victim of a teleconference hijacking or any other cyber crime, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. If you receive a specific threat during a teleconference, report it to tips.fbi.gov or call the FBI Boston Division at 857-386-2000.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2UsCU8L