Oregon law officials are warning teleconference program users of trolls who may hack a session to threaten, shock, or harass attendees.
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven many offices to use programs like Zoom or Google Hangouts in order to hold meetings. But in past weeks, hackers have crashed such sessions with racist, anti-Semitic or misogynistic rants, or porn.
Beth Anne Steele of the Oregon FBI says it’s important to set privacy and access for only those invited.
“Require a meeting password or use a waiting room feature if your platform has that," advises Steele.
"Manage screen sharing options so if there is an opportunity to screen share which is where a lot of these bad actors are making an impact by putting up pornographic images, hate speech, that kind of thing, make sure that if you can control the screen share that you do so.”
Companies like Zoom are working to make their programs more secure. And the FBI says victims of hacked teleconferences can report incidents to www.IC3.gov.
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