The Department of Justice has warned the public that ‘Zoom-bombing’ is illegal and those who are involved in such practices may be charged with federal and state crimes. The ‘Zoom-bombing’ incidents have frequently been occurring as a result of a massive work-from-home movement in the US as well as colleges and schools using the platform for online classes. The video conferencing software has been under heavy criticism for its cybersecurity practices over the past few weeks.
Users have been crashing online meetings and conducting pranks, most of which contain explicit material, recording them to later upload on YouTube or TikTok, calling it ‘Zoom-bombing.’ Zoom meeting IDs have been shared across platforms such as Discord, Reddit, and hacker forums where they are then used to hijack meetings or classes being held virtually on the video conferencing software. However, the DoJ has now announced that Zoom-bombing is illegal, and can lead to fines or imprisonment. Charges associated with Zoom-bombing include disrupting a public meeting, hate crimes, fraud, transmitting threatening communications, and computer intrusion.
Read More: DOJ Says Zoom-Bombing is Illegal, Could Lead to Jail Time
