More and more people have seen their video conferences interrupted by invaders on the trendy Zoom services in the past two weeks.
'I didn't think that it would actually happen to me'
About 30 people joined the call. Soon after it started, five to seven users started called up vulgar images or entering text comments in a chat window. Unsuspecting call participants gasped as unwanted music played and several people spoke. Walzak hit the keyboard shortcut but her computer screen went green before showing filthy images, she said, causing her to wonder if a virus had infiltrated her machine. She restarted her computer and sent participants an email containing access information for a fresh Zoom meeting. That second meeting went off without a hitch.
As more than 200 people watched the stream from YouTube, a cluster of around 20 people joined in just a few seconds. One appeared in ski mask, with blacklight showing in the background. Several people started speaking racial slurs as one user played videos of sex acts."Do I close down Zoom or do I close down the YouTube live stream?" he said. "I kind of had a blue screen of death as all of this stuff was happening, and it was very loud and in my face.
Caitlyn Cardetti, a Stony Brook Ph.D. student focusing on cellular and molecular pharmacology and president of the school's Graduate Women in Science and Engineering group, received that email — it's just that she wanted to make sure people from a similar group at a nearby institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, could join an informal call she was hosting. She started a video call with her school account and shared the link on Twitter and other online venues.
"As a women's group, we were like, 'Well, this is frustrating, and this is why groups like us are here,'" she said. She said the meeting crashers might have been boys in high school who found the meeting link on Twitter.There are ways to lower the chance of getting zoombombed.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Zoom takes lead over Microsoft Teams as coronavirus keeps Americans at homeZoom Video Communications Inc's average user numbers in March were nearly three times that of its nearest rival Microsoft Corp's Teams, according to research firm Apptopia, as the cornonavirus-driven stay-at-home lifted demand for video conferencing platforms.
Read more »
The security picture for ZoomZoom has surged in popularity as people hold meetings online amid the coronavirus crisis, but the glow is wearing off as lawmakers and others probe security and privacy concerns
Read more »
Farmworkers face coronavirus risk: 'You can't pick strawberries over Zoom'Shelter-in-place orders in California exempt farm workers as essential employees. But many are undocumented, lack health insurance and don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or federal COVID-19 relief.
Read more »
How to Win Best Hair at Your Next Zoom MeetingTips and tricks for pulling your hair situation together, fast!
Read more »
After 'Zoom bombings', other incidents, FBI warns of videoconferencing hijacking amid coronavirusAs more Americans rely on videoconferencing for work and to keep connected to love ones amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the FBI is warning of potential hijacks of videoconferencing applications.
Read more »