Zoom responds after hacker streams child abuse video into children’s fitness class

Zoom has continued to get targeted by hackers around the world. In the latest incident, a hacker streamed child abuse video in a call meant for children. Here’s what Zoom has to say about the incident.

Small toy figures are seen in front of diplayed Zoom logo in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (REUTERS)

Zoom on Sunday issued a statement over the incident where a hacker streamed child sex footage when more than 60 children were attending a virtual fitness class on the platform in Plymouth in southwest England.

Zoom in its statement condemned the act and also lauded the UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for the efforts to raise more awareness about online safety. It also pointed out some measures it has taken so far to help users learn about the existing safety features. It also highlighted the recent change to the platform that makes the Zoom Meeting ID less visible to outsiders.

Here's the full statement.

"These incidents are truly devastating and appalling, and our user policies explicitly prohibit any obscene, indecent, illegal or violent activity or content on the platform. Zoom strongly condemns such behavior and appreciates the NSPCC's efforts to raise awareness around how best to prevent these kinds of attacks. Zoom has been similarly educating users on best practices, including recommending that users never share private meeting links publicly, and we recently updated several features to help users more easily protect their meetings. We have enabled meeting passwords and virtual waiting rooms by default for users enrolled in our primary and secondary school program, as well as our Free Basic and Single Pro users. For users enrolled in our primary and secondary school program, we have also updated the default screen share settings to ensure teachers are the only ones who can share content in class For all users, we have made the Zoom Meeting ID less visible to help prevent unintended sharing, and we have added a new Security icon to the Zoom meeting controls for all hosts to help them quickly access in-meeting security features, including the ability to remove participants and lock meetings, among other actions. In the latest version of Zoom, there is a new 'Report a User' feature in the Security icon for meeting hosts and co-hosts to flag users, who are misusing the platform, to our Trust & Safety team. As part of our ongoing efforts, we are maintaining an open dialogue with the NSPCC and other advocacy groups."

Zoom, a video conferencing application, has become quite popular in the last three months as millions of people around the world are staying indoors and relying on the virtual tools to communicate and collaborate.

Zoom, however, has come under scanner over the security features. The app has been frequently targeted by hackers who gain access to virtual meetings - a phenomenon dubbed as zoombombing.

Last month, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had issued a warning about porn material being popped up during the Zoom video meetings. In India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also released a security advisory against using the Zoom app.