Zoombombing

[6] The increased use of Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic as an alternative to face-to-face meetings resulted in widespread exposure to hackers and Internet trolls, who exploit and work around the application's security features.

[9] CNET pointed out that simple Google searches for URLs that include "Zoom.us" could bring up conferences that are not password protected, and that links within public pages can allow anyone to join.

[22] The problem reached such prominence that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned of video-teleconferencing and online classroom hijacking, which it called "Zoom-bombing.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate into the matter, accusing Zoom of engaging in deceptive practices regarding user privacy and security.

[29] The New York City Department of Education prohibited all its teachers from using the platform with students, and the Clark County School District in Nevada disabled access to Zoom to its staff.

[1] Zoom CEO Eric Yuan made a public apology, saying that the teleconferencing company had not anticipated the sudden influx of new consumer users and stating that "this is a mistake and lesson learned.

Such updates include a more visible "Security" icon for users to see and use, suppression of meeting ID numbers,[35] and a change in the default settings to require passwords and waiting rooms for sessions.

[41] On July 1, 2020, Zoom stated it had released 100 new safety features over the past 90 days, including end-to-end encryption for all users, turning on meeting passwords by default, giving users the ability to choose which data centers calls are routed from, consulting with security experts, forming a CISO council, an improved bug bounty program, and working with third parties to help test security.

[51] In November 2020, a Dutch journalist for RTL Nieuws managed to gain access to a secret Zoom meeting of European Union defence ministers.

The Zoombomb was revealed to have been the result of the Dutch defence minister Ank Bijleveld posting a picture of herself that showed the login and the partial PIN number.

[52] In 2022, an online event hosted by the Italian Senate's Movimento 5 Stelle and broadcast live to Senato della Repubblica was interrupted by roughly a minute of a 3D animated Final Fantasy VII pornographic parody, displaying the character Tifa Lockhart in the middle of sexual intercourse.

[53][54] Overlapping the content's original audio was a man speaking English with a thick Italian accent stating, "I used to be a sex offender, but now I am a kindergarten teacher.

"[55] Brian Adams, a man from Paintsville, Kentucky, faced multiple federal charges after he interrupted an elementary school's video conference class during the COVID-19 pandemic with a digital racist threat.

He allegedly crashed a class Zoom conference on October 14, 2020, and targeted the Laureate Academy Charter School, whose student population is about 67% Black, because of its racial demographics.