Mayor Vico Sotto, Na-'Zoombomb' ng isang Netizen sa Kanyang Facebook Live!

Amid the community quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many people are working at the comforts of their home. This also means that the usual office meetings would have to be conducted online. That being said, many people rely on free video conference platforms like Skype and Zoom in order to conduct their meetings. But just how secure is your video conference?

Recently, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto became the latest victim of 'Zoombombing.' This term is coined from the security breach in Zoom, which allows uninvited people to enter video conferences. Mayor Vico Sotto was having a conference with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) when it occurred.

During the conference on April 22, which was also streamed on Facebook live, a journalist was asking Vico about local government units' response to the COVID-19 crisis. Much to the mayor's surprise, their video conference was suddenly interrupted when another use joined the forum.

The uninvited guest was only shown on the screen for a brief period of time, but his backdrop was totally not safe for work. For a moment, Mayor Vico seemed lost for words because of the uninvited guest, but he managed to continue the conference after the interruption.

The following day, the vivacious mayor addressed this matter on Twitter:

"Zoom Conference with Sen. Win, mayors, and policy experts. Discussion centered on ECQ exit strategy. Kailangan maayos ang plano- mula transportasyon hanggang testing. P.s. Thankfully, this Zoom Conference, walang participant na nag-background ng naka-BOLD."

While it may be funny to others, Zoombombing is a real security threat that is invading Zoom nowadays. Ever since the COVID-19 outbreak started, thousands of users from all over the globe have already experienced Zoombombing. Eric Yuan, Zoom's CEO, has already apologized and promised to work hard to make the platform safer for every user.

What are the steps you're taking to make your video calls more secured? We'd love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts with us in the comments section. For more updates on the latest happenings, feel free to follow us on Facebook.