Teleconferencing Concerns Raise as VTC Hijacking Reports Increase

Video-teleconferencing (VTC) have become a pivotal aspect of connectivity in wake of the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, reports of VTC hijackings have popped up nationwide. Also known as Zoom-bombing, referring to the popular VTC tool Zoom, the FBI warns the public about the increased risk of online meetings being hijacked.

Corporations, government bodies and the public alike need to take precautions when using these video chatting apps and take the below steps to reduce threats.

Private Not Public – Set all meetings to private regardless of the context of the meeting, business or personal. Nearly all VTC services allow you to create a unique pin to log into the online meeting.

Do Not Share Links – Do not publicly post the link or credentials to join the meeting. Past hacks have been attributed to meeting links being posted on social networks. Send out invitations directly through secure channels.

Limit Screen Sharing – Control who has screen sharing abilities to only those necessary. In most cases this can be reserved to giving that feature to the host alone. In addition to this you can also limit who has the ability to record the meetings to limit any unwanted recordings.

Update Regularly – Make sure you are using the most current and updated version of the application. This goes for everyone logging into the virtual chat room. You are only as strong as the weakest link, in this case the person who joins the meeting on an unsecured network, location or vulnerable version of the software.

Create a Guideline – If you are an organization it is important that you create a telework policy or guide to address the physical and information security requirements for videoconferencing.

Through practicing safeguarding techniques and information security steps, we can continue to connected remotely while insuring we are also digitally safe.

Additional Resources:
10 Free / Paid Video Conferencing Apps For Staying Connected