BOSTON (WHDH) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division is warning people about teleconferencing and online classroom hijackings following two incidents with Massachusetts schools.
A large number of people turned to video-teleconferencing platforms to stay connected in the wake of the coronavirus crisis but the FBI says they’ve received several reports nationwide of VTC hijackings, also called Zoom-bombing. People reported their conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.
In late March, a Massachusetts-based high school reported that while a teacher was conducting an online class using the teleconferencing software Zoom, an unidentified person dialed into the classroom, yell profanity and then shouted the teacher’s home address, according to the FBI’s Boston Division.
A second Massachusetts-based school reported an unidentified individual accessed a Zoom meeting and displayed swastika tattoos, the FBI’s Boston Division continued.
Authorities are encourage people going online for lessons and meetings to exercise caution. The FBI provided the following tips:
- Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.
- Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.
- Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to “Host Only.”
- Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated their software. In their security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.
- Ensure that the organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.
Victims of teleconference hijackings or any cyber-crime is asked to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Anyone who receives a specific threat during a teleconference is asked to report it to FBI’s Boston Division at (857) 386-2000 or to tips.fbi.gov.
Click here for more coronavirus coverage.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)