Zoom Has New Feature To Eliminate Those Who Hack Into Conversations

Zoom is rolling out a new feature to help users fight pervs and trolls who hijack their video meetings.

The videoconferencing company said it will put a new button in its app to let meeting hosts report misbehaving users directly to Zoom’s “Trust and Safety team,” which will evaluate the problem and block the offending user if warranted.

The feature will be included in an update to Zoom’s app due to roll out this Sunday, according to the company. It’s meant to address the phenomenon of “Zoom-bombing,” in which miscreants interrupt virtual meetings by shouting obscenities, displaying bigoted images or putting porn on the screen.

The incidents have plagued schools and government agencies, which have been forced to start using Zoom amid lockdowns meant to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The attacks have occurred often enough in recent weeks that the FBI issued a warning about them last month.

Silicon Valley-based Zoom has an online form where users can report attacks, but the new app feature is meant to make the process easier, according to PC Mag, which first reported on the update.

“That report button will be added to the security menu,” Oded Gal, Zoom’s chief product officer, said in a webinar last week hosted by the Anti-Defamation League. “That helps us capture information about what happened in the meeting.”

Zoom-bombing is one of several security problems the company has had to address as users flocked to its service during the virus crisis. Zoom is facing a shareholder lawsuit over concerns that it lacked adequate data privacy measures and put users at risk of having their information accessed without their permission. The firm has pledged to address security and privacy issues over 90 days in response to such complaints.

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