Singapore Suspends Using Zoom After Hacker Interrupt an Online Lesson
Singapore suspends the use of video conferencing application Zoom for online education after a hacker interrupted a class session.
Two hackers reportedly interrupted a geography lesson on Zoom video application after Singapore closed schools as partial Lockdown measures to help curb local transmissions and contain the spread of coronavirus.
According to the report of Business Mirror, Singapore’s Ministry of Education said they are already investigating the serious incidents called “Zoombombing” and may file police reports.
“We are already working with Zoom to enhance its security settings and make these security measures clear and easy to follow,” said Aaron Loh, director of the ministry’s Educational Technology Division.
“As a precautionary measure, our teachers will suspend their use of Zoom until these security issues are ironed out,” Loh said.
Based on the report, Singapore was not the only country that has been affected by the teleconferencing disruptions. On March 30, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned users to avoid making Zoom meetings in public.
This prompted after it received multiple reports of teleconferences and online classrooms are being disrupted by hackers displaying hate message and shouting profanities.
According to Michael Gazeley, managing director and co-founder of cybersecurity firm Network Box, the “Zoombombing” occurs when a user tend to create public meetings out of convenience. It allows anyone to join the meeting as long as they have the link.
“Details of conferences are often given out in a public manner, because organizers want as many attendees as possible,” said Gazeley.
“With Zoom, it was possible to set up meetings without passwords, so of course many people did just that. Whenever humans are given a choice between convenience and security, convenience almost always wins,” he said.
Previously, security researchers found software vulnerabilities in Zoom, especially on Mac users, where hackers can take over a user’s webcam feed. Zoom developers has already fixed the issue.
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