By Tim Smith I
In this time of self-isolation, the resultant decline in consumption outside of necessities has caused the stock of many successful companies to decline. The opposite has happened for Zoom Video Communications. Their stock was steadily climbing due to the increase in working and learning from home, but this recently changed due to privacy concerns within the company. That lack of privacy has been exploited in a popular yet controversial way: zoombombing.
Before Zoom added in a password to get into meetings, zoombombing was all the rage. There have been many pranks, ranging from harmless to obscenely offensive. A CBS Boston video from March 30th indicated that these zoombombers could be more than just pranksters. Cyber-security expert Peter Tran says that it is much easier for hackers to steal information from those working from home than from the companies themselves, because the individual workers will almost always have a lower level of security. Tran advised all Zoom users to make their meetings private, take attendance, and only admit those who belong in the meeting. He adamantly warned users about posting the links to their meetings on social media; Nick Emmons, the reporter covering the story, compared it to “leaving your doors and windows wide open.”
Cyber-security expert Peter Tran says that it is much easier for hackers to steal information from those working from home than from the companies themselves, because the individual workers will almost always have a lower level of security.
Seeing how popular zoombombing was becoming, I decided I’d try it out myself. On the first day of our online classes, I used my first period to sit through a class I was not actually in–purely for investigative journalism purposes, of course. I was allowed in and, because of my lack of participation, was undetected until the end of class, at which point I told the teacher that I did not actually belong in the class. My tame experiment was overshadowed, however, by real zoombombers. On April 10th, a sophomore Physics class was ambushed by anonymous pranksters, who shouted obscenities and racial slurs. Malcolm Whitfield III, a student in the class, said that the hackers said the N-word and berated Mr. Moore, but Mr. Moore was quick to create a new meeting with a different link. Aidan Brooks III, another student in the class, said, “It’s not surprising that this kind of stuff happens with the new system, but luckily those types of issues are easily solved with meeting room passwords and the ability to start a new meeting.” Teachers have figured out ways to make their meetings more secure, as many have put the links to their online classes on their uRL pages instead of emailing. However, if you are using Zoom to meet with friends, keep in mind these potential security breaches.
