Zoom fights 'zoombombing' by allowing hosts to report participants
The new feature will likely decrease the number of zoombombing incidents that have raised concerns about the app
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Video conferencing app Zoom is now allowing meeting hosts to report suspicious participants in light of a malicious trend called "zoombombing."
The new feature will likely decrease the number of zoombombing incidents and will be available on an updated version of the app and is available for Zoom accounts, groups and users. Zoom groups and accounts have the ability to lock the setting.
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"Account owners and admins can now enable a setting to allow the host to report participants to Zoom. This feature will generate a report which will be sent to the Zoom Trust and Safety team to evaluate any misuse of the platform and block a user if necessary," new release notes on Zoom's website read, as digital computer magazine PCMag first reported.
A patient sits in the living room of her apartment in the Brooklyn borough of New York during a telemedicine video conference with Dr. Deborah Mulligan. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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Zoombombing is trend that developed in recent weeks as the app's userbase grows because of the coronavirus pandemic in which people attempt to disrupt Zoom meetings they were not invited to, sometimes it is a joke but in other instances it can be a serious threat.
Zoom's userbase expanded from 10 million active daily users to 200 million in just three months, but with that demand came questions of privacy and cybersecurity that highlighted the app's unpreparedness for such unprecedented growth.
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Zoom has come under the watchful eyes of Congress, state lawmakers and the FBI since reports of hacking, Zoombombing, information-sharing and ties to China came to light in late in March.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has repeatedly apologized to Zoom users and worked to make updates to the app, but incidents concerning user privacy continue to unfold.