MightyWeb would like to inform every one out there about the latest hacking craze.
Are you working from home and using new apps to keep in touch? Are you using Zoom? That’s great. But with any electronic device, please take care and keep your information confidential. The latest craze for hackers is to Zoom-bomb. What does this mean?
Well, Zoom-bombing is the practice of unwanted guests intruding on video meeting for malicious purposes.
Recently the FBI warned the public of the potential for “Zoom-bombing” after two schools in America, using Zoom got hacked. If this is happening in the US, South Africa will also be vulnerable.
This US agency also “received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.”
Zoom has been linked to several “suspicious” websites that are said to use the company’s name in an attempt to trick people into clicking potentially dangerous links.
Zoom gave the public a few tips on how to avoid any unwelcome intruders. These tips are:
- Set the app’s screen sharing feature to “only host” before beginning a session.
- Locking meetings so that late participants can’t join.
- Muting participants.
- Disabling file transfer is also suggested as ways to block a malicious person from potentially hijacking or disrupting meetings.
By taking the precautions recommended by Zoom and the FBI you will likely stop the majority of unwanted incidents. This is great but video conferencing over the internet remains vulnerable to other forms of attack. For example, if the host’s password were to be hacked.
Another vulnerability uncovered in 2019 reportedly could have allowed hackers to take control of the webcams of users. These were used to spy on the users even when the app was not in use. The company have worked on this issue and have said to have fixed the problem entirely.
Zoom is a fantastic platform to use and we need it more than ever during Lockdown. If you did not know about it before, then definitely give it a try.
Always do your research. Then you will be on the safe side.
Article courtesy of Newsweek
