Privacy features keep hackers, porn, hate speech out of your next virtual meeting

The number of people using internet videoconferencing platforms is booming as people are forced to work from home and cannot attend social gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak.

Posted 8:16 p.m. Apr 1, 2020 — Updated 3:12 p.m. Apr 2, 2020

Amanda Lamb

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — The number of people using internet videoconferencing platforms is booming as people are forced to work from home and cannot attend social gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak.

While platforms like Zoom can be used on computers, tablets and smartphones, they can be breached if privacy features aren't activated. Some people have reported their Zoom meetings being hacked and people joining with vulgar pictures or offensive audio.

Marc Derro, a promotions producer for WRAL News' parent company, Capitol Broadcasting Co., said he was on a webinar Sunday night with about 200 people when they were interrupted twice by someone showing pornographic video on their screens.

"The moderators ... kind of freaked out," Derro said. "They had a good sense of humor about it but [were] obviously rattled, and I think everybody was like, 'What is this?'"

Then there was a third interruption, he said.

"This time, it was hate speech, and it was being written on the speaker's presentation," Derro said.

Such security breaches have prompted the FBI, the New York Attorney General's Office and others to question Zoom's privacy procedures.

"If you're not being secure and you're not using all the safety features that Zoom affords, then you're just leaving yourself vulnerable to people who are going to cause chaos and be inappropriate," cybersecurity expert Stephen Spragens, an account executive for StoredTech, said Wednesday.

Spragens advises users to take advantage of Zoom's privacy features, including keeping a personal ID private, using a password to limit access to a meeting and not allowing anyone other than the host to share the screen.

"There’s also a waiting room feature in the app that allows the person organizing the meeting more control over the environment and gives them an opportunity to prescreen anybody who wants to come in," he said.

Another tip: Don't share a link to a Zoom meeting on social media.

Zoom officials have issued a statement saying that they take security breaches seriously and urging everyone to report incidents so they can investigate.

"We have been deeply upset to hear about the incidents involving this type of attack," the statement said.

The company has addressed specific hacking incidents in Boston and New York, and it updated its privacy policy on Sunday.

Spragens said he believes Zoom is working hard to tighten its security.

"They're doing all the things they can," he said. "This is a true test of what you call scalablity. making sure they have the infrastructure on the back end to make sure they can support all of these customers."

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