My Zoom meeting got 'hacked!' What should I do?
During the lockdown, lots of activities that used to happen in the physical world migrated online. Gatherings of families and friends, as well as work meetings, were among the things that were facilitated via Internet applications.
Some of the platforms, such as Zoom, experienced a boom in its activity. However, with the growth in numbers of users, unwanted behaviour also started to appear. Although at the beginning of the year, cases of real hacking happened involving Zoom, this article discusses the phenomenon called 'zoombombing' that has been mistakenly called 'hacking' activity amongst its users.
Many people under lockdown took to Zoom to do business and stay in touch with friends and family. However, ‘zoombombing’ has made the experience unpleasant for some.
What is hacking? And why you haven’t actually been ‘hacked’ on Zoom.
The term 'hack' as a definition means that someone got control of your computer and was able to access your information from the hacker's device.
In the context of Zoom, the most common situations were based on meetings being disrupted by abusive footage – this is different from someone having access to their personal information or devices.
What is ‘Zoombombing’? Is it a new prank?
But first, let's clarify that, rather than being hacked, you might have been 'zoombombed'. The term 'hack' is often used for the following activities:
Requests to share the screen and, once it is accepted, porn videos or any other unwanted activity is shared in the meeting by this person's screen.
Open their cameras and microphones to share obscene images & sounds.
Share unwanted (usually porn related) links and messages in the chat functions. Sometimes the messages come with the threat that you are being hacked or going to be.
If this situation happened to you of someone joining the call and disrupting it, not much harm could be done apart from the disruption.
We recommend avoiding clicking on the links shared by the disruptor. In case you clicked on one of those links and are worried, please follow the instructions here.
How to avoid ‘Zoombombing’
Download the latest version of the Zoom app, in which Zoom allows the host to control who is sharing the screen as well as opening microphones and cameras.
Keep the link to the meeting limited to select people, not sharing it publicly. Sometimes that is not possible due to the nature of the meeting.
When you have public meetings, involving interactions amongst the participants, password protection for the call is a good option.
Also, the Zoom platform shares its security updates here.
Need Help?
Chat to our chatbot on our 'Get Help' page. Our chatbot will ask you some questions and get you to summarise your issue. Once the chatbot has enough information, it will match your issue to a known type of cyberattack. If you need more help, the chatbot will give you the option of speaking to one of our volunteers.
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Further Resources from The Cyber Helpline
Guide: Bugs, Cameras and Trackers