We can’t imagine this is what anyone on the call was hoping to see first thing on a Thursday morning, but here we are: Meteorological Services Department National Climate Outlook Forum meeting was targeted by hackers, who flooded the Zoom call with pornographic images and forced a major delay in proceedings.
Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry permanent secretary Mr Munesu Munodawafa apologised on behalf of the Government, and spoke of the need to expedite the Cyber Security Bill.
Many arms of government have been forced to move to a digital platform during this lockdown. In a bid to ensure transparency and honesty, the Zoom calls made between our politicians can be viewed by the general public. Unfortunately, this means that a few wrong ‘uns can get access to the chat too.
The virtual meeting is discussing the 2020/21 agricultural season forecasted weather pattern.
“We had to break the Zoom virtual meeting following the posting of offensive adult material during the meeting by some unidentified hackers. Government seriously needs to expedite passage of the Cyber Security Bill. We need to create secure virtual platforms where Government business is conducted,” said Mr Munodawafa.
A Zoom spokesperson said: “This incident is truly devastating and appalling, and our user policies explicitly prohibit any obscene, indecent, illegal or violent activity or content on the platform.
“We are looking into this specific incident to ensure the appropriate action is taken.”
The company has previously apologised for security problems, saying it is working hard on improvements.
The virtual meeting resumed after about 10 minutes.
