Terminology – Zoombombing (piratage Zoom)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann     

Zoombombing is presented as a form of cyberterrorism, carried out by individuals who intrude on ZOOM teleconferencing sessions. As uninvited participants in ZOOM meetings, such individuals variously disrupt, interrupting sessions, controlling the cursor, sometimes diffusing graphic and hate messages, sometimes attending stealthily to collect confidential or protected information (Lorenz, March 30, 2020; Lorenz & Alba, April 3, 2020). Since COVID19 Shelter-in-place orders mandate both work and study from home, using networking technology, ZOOM teleconferencing usage has skyrocketed, together with a concomitant rise in intrusions.

As a reminder, ZOOM is a teleconferencing program, enabling people located remotely, in geographically different places, to connect synchronously during a scheduled session. Typically, all participants in a ZOOM session are both visible and audible, via audio-video recording. The session is moderated by the organizer. Thus, in a ZOOM session, everyone participating can see and hear everyone else in real-time. Additionally, participants can chat, vote, share screens and documents, and break up into smaller workgroups. The sessions might also be recorded for the benefit of participants, who are unable to attend synchronously in real-time.

Cybersecruity specialists recommend the following procedures, among others, to guard against Zoombombing:

•          keeping password options on when creating sessions
•          keeping meeting URLs private (avoiding to share the meeting links)
•          editing automated calendar entries for a Zoom meeting which might include the above (i.e; meeting links or passwords)    

User beware! Especially, if ZOOM meetings are your lifeline in these unprecedented times of virtual socialization.  

Update

After 200 million people used ZOOM teleconferencing daily last month (a twentyfold increase on previous peak usage), Zoom is now caught in a zoombombing backlash. Indeed, the company is heading for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into its “flawed privacy and security”, having allegedly misled users with deceptive claims about the privacy of communication during sessions. [Bond, April 3, 2020]

References

- 20 minutes (avec AFP) (2 avril, 2020) L’application de vsioconférence ZOOM veut renforcer sa sécurité

https://www.20minutes.fr/high-tech/2753467-20200402-application-visioconference-zoom-veut-renforcer-securite

- Bond, S. (April 3, 2020) Senator asks FTC to investigate Zoom’s “deceptive” security Claims – NPR
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/03/826968159/senator-zoom-deceived-users-over-its-security-claims

- Hodge, R. (April 2, 2020) Zoombombing: What it is and how to prevent it in Zoom video chat. CNET

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/zoombombing-what-it-is-and-how-to-prevent-it-in-zoom-video-chat/
- Lorenz, T. (March 20, 2020) Zoombombing: when teleconferencing goes wrong. NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/style/zoombombing-zoom-trolling.html
- Lorenz, T. and D. Alba (April 3, 2020) Zoombombing becomes a dangerous organized effort. NYTimes

https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology

- Marottin, A. (April 2, 2020) Zoom video meetings are being interrupted by hackers spewing hate speech and showing porn.  It’s called ‘Zoombombing.’ Here’s how to prevent it.  Chicago Tribune

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-zoombombing-20200401-wf2pvzqhbngitankuokvinvk2m-story.html

ZOOM

https://zoom.us/