Unknown individual manipulates MTA board gathering, displays explicit pornographic content
On Wednesday, an unexpected disruption occurred during a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board meeting, as a raunchy image of a naked man was displayed. The image, accompanied by the words "hacked by ccp facer" as a watermark, caused a brief interruption in the proceedings.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber quickly addressed the incident, describing it as "unpleasant" and attributing it to a group of individuals who used phony credentials to follow the meeting online. Lieber promised that the MTA would work with its IT department to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The image appeared during the meeting's public commentary portion, and according to Lieber, one of these individuals was able to "penetrate" and display the indecent image. The group of individuals celebrated online after the indecent image was displayed.
The meeting's virtual feed was interrupted, but Lieber said the interruption lasted for a very short time, "It shut down within literally a second or two." Lieber stated that the interrupted speaker would be invited back to finish his statement.
This incident is not an isolated case. In February 2021, a group hacked a virtual meeting of City Council members with NSFW content. Last week, a virtual Zoom meeting between New Jersey election officials and news outlets was also hacked with pornographic images.
To prevent such incidents, it's crucial to implement strict access controls. Common methods include using waiting rooms, creating breakout rooms with greeters, locking meetings after start, using strong, unique passwords, utilising Zoom’s pin feature, limiting screen and file sharing, keeping Zoom updated, and enabling two-factor authentication. These strategies focus on strict participant screening, access restrictions, and proactive meeting management.
While some advanced abuse tactics like “Ghost Calls” exploit underlying communication infrastructure, these are distinct from typical Zoom bombing disruptions and are being mitigated by Zoom through infrastructure changes.
In light of this incident, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber has been urged to make a comment about the incident by another worker. NBC4 reported that the state attorney general is investigating the hacking. The agency's head honcho, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, was present during the incident, ensuring prompt action to address the issue.
- The MTA Chairman, Janno Lieber, has stated that the indecent image displayed during the MTA board meeting was a result of a group using phony credentials to infiltrate the online meeting, similar to the hacking incidents reported in general-news, such as the February 2021 City Council hack and last week's New Jersey election officials' meeting.
- In an effort to prevent such technology-facilitated crimes and justice issues, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber is encouraged to consider implementing stricter access controls, such as waiting rooms, strong passwords, and more effective participant screening, as commonly used methods to secure virtual meetings.
