Video conferencing iphone app Zoom under scrutiny in US over privacy, porn hacks
Video conferencing app Zoom, which includes seen its popularity skyrocket in the coronavirus pandemic, is in warm water after users complained to the FBI to be startled by porn during meetings.
NY Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to the in-vogue California enterprise “with several questions to guarantee the company is taking appropriate steps to ensure users’ privacy and security,” a spokesman said.
He refused to give more info on the contents but added Tuesday that James’s office was “trying to utilize the company” to solve any problems.
The investigation comes after the FBI’s Boston office warned on Monday that it had “received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.”
The FBI listed two examples where hackers had “Zoom-bombed” schools that have closed as a result of the deadly virus and which are actually teaching classes online.
A Massachusetts senior high school reported an unidentified individual dialed in to the virtual classroom and yelled a profanity at the teacher before shouting the teacher’s home address.
Another school in the same state reported the looks of an unknown person with swastika tattoos.
Using the hashtag “zoombombed,” social media users have testified that they suddenly saw pornographic or racist images on their screens while using the app.
The FBI recommended that Zoom users make all meetings private and steer clear of screen sharing to combat would-be hackers.
Silicon Valley-based Zoom said it “takes its users’ privacy, security, and trust extremely seriously.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working around-the-clock to ensure that hospitals, universities, schools, and other businesses around the world can stay linked and operational,” a spokesperson told AFP.
“We appreciate the brand new York Attorney General’s engagement on these issues and so are pleased to provide her with the requested information.”
Zoom saw US downloads surge by 252 percent to 4.2 million through the week of March 16-when strict stay-at-home measures began being rolled out across America-compared to the prior week, according to analyze firm Sensor Tower.
They increased by another 66 percent the next week to reach seven million downloads.
The iphone app has seen similar growth in Europe, with downloads hitting 6.5 million towards the end of March, according to Sensor Tower.
