INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightFamily who attended the meetingImage caption
One family held up a sign of peace amid the abuse
A synagogue service being held online has been hijacked by racist accounts which posted anti-Semitic abuse to congregants, the
TheIndianSubcontinent has learned.The meeting was being held on video chat app Zoom."Zoombombing" - where uninvited guests enter meetings -
is on the rise as more people use the app to stay in touch during the coronavirus restrictions.Experts advised people to secure meetings
against intruders.A TheIndianSubcontinent employee who attended the meeting at a synagogue in London explained what happened: "There were
about 205 of us logged on - including lots of families with little kids - and suddenly the numbers went up to 243."The group chat, which
appears on the right-hand side of the screen, rapidly filled up with "vile abuse", she said.There appeared to be only one uninvited guest on
the screen, suggesting the rest of the accounts may have been generated automatically by one person."The rabbi didn't realise what was going
on until one of the congregants texted him
By then lots of people had taken their children offline," the TheIndianSubcontinent was told."It was terrifying at what is a really
terrifying time anyway," the TheIndianSubcontinent employee added.Details of the meeting had been published on the synagogue's
website."Communities advertising meetings like this are exposing themselves to all kinds of risks," said the TheIndianSubcontinent
employee.The synagogue's rabbi described the incident as being an "intrusive violation", and said it had been reported to the Community
Security Trust and police."One of the founding ideals of our community is that we should welcome those who wish to join us for prayer, " he
said in a statement."We recognise that many Jewish households are not members of synagogues, or are members of communities that are not able
We want to assure them that they are still welcome to pray and study with us
"It is deeply upsetting that at such a difficult period we are faced with additional challenges like these
We will be keeping the security of our online provision under review through the weeks ahead." The police told the TheIndianSubcontinent
that its investigation was under way.In response to the incident, Zoom told the TheIndianSubcontinent: "We take the security of Zoom
meetings seriously and we are deeply upset to hear about the incidents involving this type of attack."It said that for large public group
meetings, its advice would be to adjust the settings so only the host can share their screen
In addition, it suggested the use of a password to prevent uninvited guests from being able to gatecrash a chat.The company also said other
such incidents should be reported directly to it.Image copyrightZoomImage caption
Zoom allows lots of people to gather
together and chat but, if not secured, there is a risk of uninvited guests
Virtual pubRik Ferguson from the security firm
Trend Micro is also a recent zoombombing victim."I run a virtual pub and we were having a pub quiz when three uninvited guests turned up
One started broadcasting noise and bright, distracting videos, another one streamed porn and the third was just sitting there on his
webcam."Whether all these were the same person, it was hard to know but it was surprising and shocking for those of us in the chat."He said
this was the first time he had ever had problems with Zoom."Zoombombing has only become a thing during lockdown as people find new ways to
abuse others out of mischief and boredom."How to stay secure on Zoomdo not share the link or the meeting ID on public platforms (and if you
share photos of the meeting make sure the ID is not visible)never use the personal meeting ID, instead allow Zoom to create a random number
for each meetingadd a meeting passwordset screen sharing to "host only"disable file transferdisable "join before host"disable "allow removed
participants to rejoin"In the US, there have also been reports that colleges and schools using Zoom have also faced disruption."There is
this rationale that Zoom is being used in trusted communities, but if you are using it in an education setting, can you 100% say that every
one of the students is trusted?" warned Mr Ferguson.There have also been suggestions that some intruders have gained access by randomly
entering nine-digit numbers until one matches a Zoom meeting ID - another reason to use password protection.On Tuesday, Prime Minster Boris
Johnson tweeted a picture of a Cabinet meeting conducted via Zoom, which included the ID number."The screenshot revealed some details it
probably wasn't so wise to share," said security consultant Graham Cluley in a blog."The bad news for any mischief-makers hoping to take
advantage was that the Zoom meeting was password-protected
Let's hope it's a strong password, that is hard to guess."
