Hacked! Dallas ISD Apologizes After Parent-Senior Meeting 'Zoom Bombed' By Porn
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas ISD is apologizing after hackers popped pornography on-screen during an online Zoom meeting between dozens of students, teachers, and parents to discuss graduation last week.
The district sent CBS 11 News the following statement:
"We apologize for the graphic images some of our students and families may have seen during a parent-senior Zoom meeting, which was hacked by an unknown source yesterday. It's unfortunate the digital platform that many of us rely on to connect students with teachers each day, has been compromised through various "Zoom-bombings". Though we are disappointed the incident occurred, campus administrators successfully restarted the meeting without further incident and are working with Dallas ISD Police to investigate. A formal complaint was reported to Zoom, as we hope this incident prompts a stronger review of their security measures."
The popular video conferencing program has faced scrutiny about its privacy practices, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced millions of Americans to work from home.
The company has fielded questions about how it handles user data, as well as the software's security features.
"We do not sell your personal data," reads Zoom's privacy policy, posted on March 29. "Whether you are a business or a school or an individual user, we do not sell your data."
But that fact does not stop the company from analyzing users' data in some fashion, according to Shawn Tuma, a cybersecurity attorney with Spencer Fane LLP in Plano.
"We as consumers now have to know that if we're being given a free service, we are a product of that service," said Tuma, who has written a blog post about to adjust privacy settings on Zoom meetings.
Some tips include never sharing meeting IDs publicly and disabling the "file transfer" feature.
Zoom's policy claims it collects only the user data that is required to provide services, such as an IP address and device details.
But an investigation by Motherboard found Zoom allegedly shared user data with Facebook, prompting the company to end the practice a day later.
A California man also filed a lawsuit against Zoom for sharing customers' information with Facebook without providing notice.
The FBI has even issued a warning over a rise in "Zoom bombing" incidents -- like what happened in the Dallas ISD meeting -- in which hackers disrupt meetings with profanities or pornography.