SAN ANTONIO – The FBI is investigating an incident involving a Zoom meeting for a school in Austin that was hacked into by someone who displayed “despicable” content.
“Fortunately, there were no children that were participating. But one of the (uninvited) participants interrupted the meeting and displayed child sexual abuse material," said Michelle Lee, an FBI Special Agent based in San Antonio. “Violent acts, things being done to children which are causing them to suffer and they’re in pain."
Lee said the incident is among hundreds that have occurred around the world since schools, businesses and families have turned to video teleconferencing in place of personal meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic. She said there are a lot more incidents that have yet to be reported.
Lee said the disturbing content often leads to psychological damage for the unsuspecting viewers.
Zoom bombing: How hackers crash your online meetings and ways to prevent it
In some cases, Lee said it was easy for the hacker to gain access to a virtual meeting.
“We’ve seen instances where those passwords are actually posted on public web sites,” Lee said.
KSAT IT specialist Sebastian Jovell said that virtual meeting passwords should be secure and complex.
“A strong password that you often change, and don’t keep the same password for multiple accounts every year,” Jovell said.
Jovell said passwords should also be unfamiliar.
“The more inconvenient it is for us, the higher the inconvenience is for the other person as well,” Jovell said.
You can report hacking incidents involving sexual content by clicking here.
To read about a warning the FBI has issued about Zoom meetings, click here.