A pornographic “Zoom bombing ” incident forced the cancellation of an event involving Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, Reuters reported Thursday.
The virtual event, hosted by the Mid-Sized Bank Coalition of America (MBCA), attracted over 220 participants, according to Reuters. Participants were not automatically muted when they logged in.
Shortly before the event began, a Reuters reporter on the call noted that a participant going by the name of “Dan” had begun to share pornographic images. The event was soon cancelled after consultations between the MBCA and the Federal Reserve, the outlet reported.
A virtual event featuring Fed Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was scrapped after a participant displayed pornographic content https://t.co/9G8EhNVPPz
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 2, 2023
MBCA executive director Brent Tjarks described the the hijacking as “an incident we deeply regret,” according to Reuters. He added that the organization is “trying to understand what we need to do going forward to prevent this from ever happening again.” (RELATED: Man In Panties Makes Surprise Cameo In District Supervisor’s Zoom Meeting)
The incident follows a broader pattern of security-related issues that increased as Zoom usage skyrocketed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Company spokesperson Matt Nagel said that Zoom takes “meeting disruptions extremely seriously and, where appropriate, [works] closely with law enforcement authorities,” Reuters reported.
The Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a March 2020 warning over multiple reports of video teleconference hijackings that included “pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language.”