Warning following reports of video conferences being hijacked

We're reminding the public to be vigilant when using video conferences apps after two incidents of 'Zoom-bombing' have been reported in recent weeks.

This is where uninvited guests are able to join the virtual chat sessions and hijack them - in one incident reported a yoga session was joined by an unknown person who displayed indecent images of children to the group.

The stream was quickly closed down, but this can understandably be shocking for those within the conference. In this instance the joining instructions had been publicised online.

Zoom, and other video conferencing apps, have a number of safety features you can use to stop unknown or unwanted persons from joining your conference and sharing inappropriate or illegal material. These include;

• Making meetings private, or locked, and securing them with strong passwords
• Not sharing links to meetings on social media
• Only sharing links to meetings privately and only with those you want to invite
• Limiting who can 'Present' or share their screen with the group
• Making use of features such as virtual waiting rooms to verify participants before they are allowed into the meeting

UK police forces with reports such as these are working with the National Crime Agency to identify links between offences, and to identify and protect the children involved.