A Federal Reserve Zoom event was cancelled only moments after it was scheduled to start Thursday night following an outburst of pornographic images that took over the screen. The video conference was held by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, but he was unable to deliver his opening remarks as the images began to pop up on the screen by a participant named “Dan” to the more than 220 people on the call, Reuters reported.
Waller was scheduled to speak on inflation and the economic outlook heading into 2023 and was set to incorporate a question-and-answer session. “There were technical difficulties with Governor Waller’s virtual event and it was cancelled,” a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve Board’s Public Affairs Office said in an emailed statement to Gizmodo. He added, “The speech was posted in full on the Board’s website.”
Brent Tjarks, executive director of the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America (MBCA), which hosted the event, told Reuters it is possible that the security switches to mute others on the call and prevent them from sharing their screens were not set correctly.
“We were a victim of a teleconference or Zoom hijacking and we are trying to understand what we need to do going forward to prevent this from ever happening again. It is an incident we deeply regret,” Tjarks told the outlet, adding, “We have had various programs and this is something that we have never had happen to us.”
The MBCA did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
Zoom hijackings have become increasingly common since they took the place of many in-person meetings and events during the covid-19 pandemic, and the company has since advised those using its app for corporate or large-scale events to take security measures.
The company’s security recommendations include refraining from sharing meeting links and passwords in a public forum such as on websites or social media, a Zoom spokesperson said in an email to Gizmodo, adding they encourage large-scale or public event video calls to utilise Zoom’s webinar solution.
“We have been deeply upset to hear about these types of incidents, and Zoom strongly condemns such behaviour,” the Zoom spokesperson said. “We take meeting disruptions extremely seriously and, where appropriate, we work closely with law enforcement authorities. We encourage users to report any incidents of this kind to Zoom and law enforcement authorities so the appropriate action can be taken against offenders.”