‘It was very jarring,’ Texas worshiper says after Zoom service ‘bombed’ with child porn
Like most other churches across the U.S., the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Waco, Texas moved its services online in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The church has been worshiping via video conference platform Zoom for the last few months, but the unthinkable happened when their April 26 service was hacked with “horrifying” images of child pornography, according to local station KWKT.
“I wanted to cover my screen,” minister Kris Cervantes told the station. “I wanted to shut my laptop. But that wouldn’t get rid of it for everybody. Simply, your brain couldn’t figure out what it was because it was so off.”
The phenomenon, known as “Zoombombing,” caused the inappropriate images to flash across nearly three dozen worshipers’ screens and included photos depicting sex acts on infants, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. The pictures lasted for nearly 12 seconds before church officials were able to shut down the hacker’s camera.
Cervantes said whoever was responsible needs “to be locked away.”
“My religion calls for me to treat prisoners humanely, even if they don’t deserve it,” she told the Tribune-Herald. “I stand by that. But it’s difficult not to wish for vengeance in this case. Justice is one thing and vengeance is another. The UU faith calls for us to believe in justice.”
The pastor told KWKT she believes the hacker was able to join the online Sunday service by using a name that was familiar among parishioners.
“I think it was ‘Kristina B,’ “ Cervantes recalled, KWKT reported. “And we used to have a Kristina that used to come to church regularly, so it doesn’t surprise me that, that person was let in.”
Zoom has become a critically important tool in keeping friends, family and colleagues in touch during the pandemic. However, the app has been plagued by security issues as of late with hackers “bombing” user conferences with racist images and pornography,McClatchy New previously reported.
A Lutheran church in California that experienced a similar pornographic attack is now taking the video communications company to court after it says Zoom failed “to close security holes,” according to McClatchy News.
“The footages were sick and sickening — portraying adults engaging in sex acts with each other and performing sex acts on infants and children, in addition to physically abusing them,” the church wrote in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Zoom said it is taking steps to make its app more safe and secure.
As of May 9, all meetings and webinars, including previously scheduled events, now require a password by default, according to Financial Express. The company is also expected to roll out enhanced encryption as part of its Zoom 5.0 update at the end of the month, Zoom announced in a news release.
After the April incident, UU Fellowship member and data analyst, Jeff Martin-Moreno, stepped in to help the church enhance security on their end, according to the Tribune-Herald.
“I have seen a lot,” Martin-Moreno told the paper. “Never in my life have I ever seen anything like that. It was very jarring.”
Cervantes reported the incident to Waco police, who are now investigating.
“As the pastor, you feel so violated,” she told the Tribune-Herald. “I’m responsible for protecting my people. I’m not easily shocked, but this shocked me right down to my core.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 12:01 PM with the headline "‘It was very jarring,’ Texas worshiper says after Zoom service ‘bombed’ with child porn."