Zoom Bombers

[DavidAA]

Hello

We facilitate AA meetings on Zoom and because of the open format and public posting of meetings we are a prime target for Zoom Bombers. We remove and report the Bombers when they come in.   We use all the available features to limit interruptions but they find ways around them. This post is not to illicit zoom 101 comments, it to hopefully be an online petition for Zoom to track the accounts, IP addresses, and other identifying factors of Bombers' to restrict their access to the platform. We have done all we can, we need Zoom to start removing bad actors. Please help!

Thanks

[iammayim]

Agreed!  It is completely out of hand. 

[bertwoodall]

AA here also. We are plagued with bombers -- obscene images, awful noises, etc -- and somehow bombers are able to move their images quickly and repeatedly which makes it VERY difficult to kick them out of the meeting. It has really gotten out of hand and as far as I know, zoom offers no tools or techniques to deal with this plague. Having a waiting room is no help, as there is no way to inspect or interrogate individual entry requests.

[iammayim]

What we have started doing is creating a breakout room. There is a greeter in the main room who asks each person to turn their camera in as they are let in from the waiting room.  If they are new to the meeting, we ask them a couple of questions and then send them into the meeting which takes place in the breakout room. This screening step has eliminated 99.9% of Zoom bombing attempts in our case. 

[LazyRancher]

How do you create a breakout room?  Is that different from the waiting room?

[RN · Accepted solution]

Hi @DavidAA @iammayim @bertwoodall I'm sorry to hear that these pesky unwanted users interrupted your Zoom Meeting session. Report this to https://zoom.us/trust-form under "Report Abusive Behavior or Content". The designated team will contact you to further investigate your submission. 

More information on securing your meetings here and Reporting inappropriate behavior

[JoJo776]

We are an affiliated 12 step programme for food and the bombing now feels like a virus. It is affected so many different meetings and we always insist on camera on and a name and waiting room, but this one copies names and suddenly we are looking at and hearing the vilest offensive images possible and screaming. It then replicates and seems to copy even when we start a new meeting on a new number. It really needs to be addressed. I have had young members in tears over the images. We cannot unsee them! It is absolutely vile. 

[Monday]

Try removing the ability to unname in your security settings. 

[JasonMc]

I appreciate this post and the Zoom response and just wanted to share my experience (and frustration). The 'Zoom Bombers' are frustrating and pervasive for our meeting as well and make it difficult to provide an open and welcoming environment for new members. We take care of the situation with some pretty good support from Zoom and great suggestions from people like the folks that posted here and I am thankful for that. My main concern is that not only do I report each and every one of these offensive users, but I have yet to receive any follow-up from Zoom as they claim on these offensive users and, to make matters worse, some of them are known repeat offenders. We are content with the tools we have and the ability to be a safe space 99% of the time but I plead for a little more support handling these repeat offenders. The power-balance is shifted more than I would like to see to the side of bad actors and not to the Zoom support side of things.

[Merrill]

our women's meeting is now experiencing bombers who target individual members...very upsetting--just speaking for myself, I wholeheartedly support 

[LazyRancher]

I'm the tech host for an AA meeting also.  I don't know if you use all of the host tools - but before we let people in we disable everything (removing the check marks) other than start video (we ask that people who come in start their video when they arrive.). Even with all that we have been hit by some tech savvy bombers who seem to override all the controls.  I try to remember that they are sick and need compassion but ...

[KateBoston]

Al-Anon member here. I agree with everything AA members have said! I just tried to attend a(n Al-Anon) meeting that was zoom-bombed by someone who lurked until just after the Serenity Prayer. In 12-step meetings, it's hard to find a balance between people who just want privacy and people who are there for chaos (or worse). If Zoom could track and ban repeat offenders, this would help a LOT--because it's very clear that most, if not all, of these zoom-bombers ARE repeat offenders. 

[LazyRancher]

David - I tech host an AA meeting that had a horrendous bomber today.  Even with all the host tools unchecked he managed to get in repeatedly, put on a nasty video and jump around from screen to screen so quickly, that while trying to remove him we removed other people he was "sitting" on top of.  He also hijacked chat and managed to show every participant posting a racial slur at the same time.  I had to close the meeting and re-open it.  He came in again, but that time I was able to remove him and report it to Zoom, but it left me shaking.

I don't know what kind of tools these bad actors have that can bypass all of our security settings.

[DavidAA]

Thanks for your comments. Please report and follow thru with confirmation. Alot of our numbers are on chat forums...... but if you get a reputation for following thru on the reporting they stop coming in. Also alot of the bombers have Youtube channels. If you go to Youtube and report unauthorized recording of you or other groups it shuts down alot of their motivation