FBI warns users of Zoom Privacy Concerns

As a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, more individuals than ever before are relying on online video conferencing software. The FBI, however, is now warning users of potential hijacks of video conferencing applications such as Zoom. Just last week, a high school in Massachusetts reported that while their teacher was conducting an online class, an unidentified individual signed into the session and began revealing personal information about the teacher. They yelled a profanity and then announced the teacher’s home address before promptly signing off. Later that week, another Massachusetts high school reported a very similar situation as having occurred. According to the students, a man covered in Swastika tattoos had suddenly appeared in their online classroom. According to Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent, Zoom serves a perfect platform for cyber criminals. “Typically, they create domains that impersonate Zoom, with the goal of stealing personal information.” About 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies are now using Zoom, which makes it an ideal platform for stealing personal information. Dennis Johnson, a doctoral student at the California State University was presenting his dissertation via Zoom when a hijacker gained control of his presentation and posted pornographic and racial images on the screen. “Honestly, I was just lost — I reached out to Zoom and they tell me these are ‘party crashers.’ These are not party crashers, they are racist, sexist attacks on people of color,” Johnson alleges. In order to combat this prevailing issue, the FBI has urged users to update their software, make the meetings private, and provide links to the participants directly. “We take the security of Zoom meetings seriously and we are deeply upset 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,” a Zoom executive said in a statement. Last Monday, a lawsuit was filed in California Federal Court asking a judge to declare Zoom’s practice of sharing information with Facebook illegal. While neither party has responded yet, this sheds light on some of the concerns that will likely arise within the next few weeks.