Zoom under scrutiny over porn hacks

Video conferencing app Zoom, which has seen its popularity skyrocket in the coronavirus pandemic, is in hot water after users complained to the FBI of being startled by porn during meetings.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to the in-vogue California enterprise “with a number of questions to ensure the company is taking appropriate steps to ensure users’ privacy and security,” a spokesperson said.

He refused to give further information on the contents, but added on Tuesday that James’s office was “trying to work with the company” to resolve 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 which have closed because of the deadly virus and which are now teaching classes online.

A Massachusetts high school reported that an unidentified individual dialled into 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 appearance 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 avoid screen sharing to combat would-be hackers.

Zoom said it was cooperating with authorities to investigate the matter.