Coronavirus Latest: Recent 'Zoom Bombings' Involving Arcadia University, Delaware Congresswoman Lead To FBI Investigations, Security Changes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The FBI is investigating another case of "Zoom bombing." The latest virtual meeting interruption involved Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester.
The incident is now leading to some changes in security.
Staff at Arcadia University were left horrified after a hacker entered into a Zoom on April 17, shocking the attendees with a video depicting what was described as "child abuse."
According to Arcadia, the webinar was shut down within seconds.
"The University immediately instituted safety measures on Zoom to ensure a secure space for online interaction. Public Safety contacted Cheltenham Police and filed an IC3 report for the FBI," Daniel DiPrinzio, interim assistant vice president for University Relations at Arcadia University, said.
Zoom Meeting Involving Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester Hacked With Racist Messages
On Wednesday, a Zoom video conference involving Blunt Rochester and the Delaware Black Caucus was hacked as well.
"My first reaction was not to be upset. My first reaction was that we will not let hate take us down," Blunt Rochester said.
About 26 minutes into the meeting, video containing a swastika, the N-word and pornography appeared on the screen for participants to see.
"Obviously, they weren't after any kind of economic data or financial information," said Pamela King, digital forensics expert and instructor at Chestnut Hill College.
In most cases, it's about shock value, according to King, who spent 17 years as a digital forensics examiner for law enforcement.
"There is not really a way to set it up to be 100% secure. I mean, you are using another party's service so you are kind of at the mercy of whatever security controls they have set up," King said.
After a flurry of "Zoom bombings," as they are called, the company has pushed password-protected meetings, which makes a hack less likely. It's still not foolproof, though.
But in some cases, law enforcement does have the ability to track down these hackers.
"You can work with the vendor who supplies the product and you can try and set up, look at logs and trace packets," King said.
Arcadia's employee assistance program was notified after the Zoom hacking to help faculty and staff who may be in need of counseling due to the very upsetting nature of what popped up on their screen.
