Zoombombing was originally coined in reference to the popular online video conferencing software known as Zoom. However, it is now an umbrella term widely used to refer to other video conferencing platforms as well.
As the usage of these services spiked during the Coronavirus pandemic, video conference trolling became more prevalent as well. So is Zoombombing technically hacking? Is Zoombombing illegal where you live? And how can you secure your Zoom calls?
Are Zoombombing and Hacking the Same?
When most people think of Zoombombing, they think of hacking but in reality, they’re not exactly the same thing.
Hacking entails compromising devices and networks, motivated by financial gains, spying, or information gathering. Zoombombing, on the other hand, can be motivated by hate crimes.
Zoombombers hijack and disrupt ongoing video conferences and school classes by inserting lewd, obscene, or racist slurs in the middle. This is especially disturbing for schools and universities where remote learning is the main platform for teaching students during the pandemic.
Is Zoombombing Illegal?
The growing prevalence of these incidents has pushed federal authorities, the Department of Justice, and the Offices of the United States Attorneys to declare Zoombombing as an illegal and potential federal offense.
A strict warning was posted in 2020 to the Department of Justice’s website under the U.S. Attorney’s office claiming that individuals involved in these acts can be charged with federal and state crimes. These can lead to hefty fines and even imprisonment.
According to law officials, Zoombombing charges may entail the following behaviors:
- Disruption of a public meeting
- Computer intrusion
- Using a computer to commit a crime
- Spreading hate crimes
- Committing fraud
- Transmission of threatening communications
The Law Surrounding Zoombombing
Zoombombing is defined by using a variety of common terms like “online trolling”, “bullying” and the likes. So what exactly constitutes Zoombombing and its legal implications?
Entering Password-Protected Meetings
According to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it is a criminal offense to access computers without authorization. In the same sense, accessing a video meeting that you do not have authorization for makes Zoombombing illegal as well.
Entering Non-Password Protected Meetings
Non-password-protected video meetings are generally casual meetings that occur between friends, family members, co-workers, or businesses and their clients to which the general public is not invited.
To enter such a meeting is trespassing but there is no exact, overarching law stating that this is a crime. However, it might be illegal under a number of local, state, or federal statutes and can certainly be outlawed in the future.
Displaying Offensive Content
Accessing a publicly-open Zoom meeting and displaying offensive material is unfortunately not a crime. It is equivalent to showing up at a public speaking event while carrying offensive signs or wearing clothes with offensive messages on them.
Likewise, posting on an open chat during a publicly-accessible video meeting is also not illegal. The same holds true for the share screen function.
Nonetheless, all these actions would mean the user gets kicked out of the meeting and rightly so.
Conveying Offensive Audio Messages
Entering a public video meeting and sending an offensive audio message can make it difficult for the meeting host’s audio to be heard. This can be considered as cyber-heckling and might become a punishable offense for some laws that ban disrupting lawful assembly. But at this point, it is not considered a criminal offense.
Posting Threats of Violence or Crime
Real threats, inciting violence or crime are punishable offenses, no matter what medium is used.
Obscene, violent, racist, and offensive material, even if carried out through Zoom meetings, can get people into trouble with the law.
Entering Video Meetings for Online Classrooms
Complaints of Zoombombing online classes have mushroomed at a rapid pace. This is when the offenders join virtual classrooms and spew profanity in front of kids. Federal prosecutors in Michigan have warned that this type of Zoombombing is a serious offense.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District: “Hackers are disrupting conferences and online classrooms with pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. Anyone who hacks into a teleconference can be charged with state or federal crimes.”
How to Protect Your Zoom Calls
The good news is that Zoom has introduced security fixes since the use of the service spiked over the globe.
Many instances of Zoombombing are illegal but the exact law surrounding this phenomenon is a bit vague. Therefore, it is best for users to be vigilant and enable self-protection rather than depending on law enforcement for help.
Here are some easy ways to prevent Zoombombing.
1. Do Not Use a Personal ID
To initiate a Zoom meeting, a personal meeting ID is required. What most people do not realize is that they have two options—either to use their personal ID or generate a new, random one.
Always opt for generating a random ID because if Zoombombers take over your personal ID, they can potentially stalk you.
2. Password Protect Your Meetings
A password is not necessary for large-scale public Zoom meetings but is a good way to add an extra layer of protection. However, Zoom sends out meeting passwords to all invitees when invitations are delivered and that can be troublesome.
To keep passwords safe, simply create a meeting without a password then later update the meeting to add a password and send it out to your invitees in private emails or through other means.
3. Use the Waiting Room To Your Advantage
A cool feature that most online video conferencing tools come equipped with is known as the “waiting room” feature which puts each connecting user in a queue so the meeting host can approve them first.
4. Disable Video and Mute Audio for Attendees
Disabling video for everyone but the host will prevent anyone from sharing obscene content or getting involved in Zoombombing.
Muting audio of attendees also provides extra security but has to be done by the host after the meeting has started.
5. Disable Screen Sharing for Attendees
Effective Zoombombing techniques involve taking over the meeting screens. To prevent this, the screen sharing option should be turned off for everyone except for the meeting host or co-host.
This option also has to be toggled once the meeting is already in session.
6. Keep Your Video Tools Updated
Zoom and other video conferencing tools all come with glitches that should be looked into from time to time. The easiest fix is to ensure your video conferencing tools are updated as new updates always address security vulnerabilities.
Zoombombing Is Real
Video conferencing used to be the safest type of socially distant communication but threat actors have now found ways to infiltrate these meetings.
While people across the globe are trying to get immunity from Coronavirus, sadly the only immunity from Zoombombing is extra vigilance and getting up to speed on the technical features of video conferencing tools.