The National Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT) has issued an advisory highlighting the growing cyber risks targeting video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet. With the widespread adoption of online meetings, attackers are increasingly exploiting weak security controls to compromise meetings, accounts, and user devices.
Risks Highlighted by National CERT
According to the advisory, cyber attackers are using vulnerabilities to:
- Gain unauthorized access to meetings (commonly known as “Zoom bombing”).
- Conduct account takeovers and data leaks.
- Launch service disruptions through denial-of-service attacks.
- Exploit management tools and interfaces to misuse platform controls.
Such attacks can expose sensitive discussions, confidential data, and organizational systems to significant risk.
Recommended Security Practices for Users
To reduce the risks, National CERT advises:
- Share meeting links only through secure channels.
- Issue meeting IDs shortly before sessions begin.
- Enable waiting rooms to screen participants.
- Lock meetings once all participants have joined.
- Restrict screen sharing to hosts by default.
- Treat meeting links like sensitive login credentials.
- Keep devices updated with the latest software and operating system patches.
Organizational Security Measures
Organizations are urged to implement:
- Layered security controls for video conferencing infrastructure.
- Network segmentation and intrusion detection systems.
- Continuous monitoring to detect suspicious activity.
- Incident response protocols, including removing unauthorized users, reviewing system logs, and maintaining secure backups.
These measures help protect meetings, sensitive information, and connected systems from compromise.
Conclusion
As remote work and online collaboration continue to grow, National CERT emphasizes that secure practices and organizational controls are essential to safeguard video conferencing platforms. Following these recommendations can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, and service disruptions.
