PULLMAN, Wash. — Pullman police and Pullman School District IT staff are investigating multiple hackings of classes being held on Zoom.
The Pullman School District posted a letter to parents on social media Friday that said there have been a string of "Zoom bombings" over the past two days.
Superintendent Bob Maxwell said there were five separate attempts to "Zoom bomb" classes.
Pullman Police Sergeant Greg Umbright said a Lincoln Middle School band class happening over Zoom was hacked by someone and they played a video showing bestiality.
Umbright said the teacher immediately shut down the video. The incident was reported to police at the end of the school day.
In other attempts, inappropriate comments were made loudly to the class, Maxwell wrote. He said they have sent emails to the affected classes and parents of the students notifying them of the incidents.
Pullman School District’s IT department is working to figure out who was responsible for the hack, Umbright said. He said they will forward any leads they get to the police department.
Umbright said if any leads are developed, the person responsible could face “a variety of charges.”
The school district is taking the following steps to combat the problem:
- All live learning experiences via Zoom will be discontinued and teachers will be using Google Meets starting Sept. 8.
- Recorded learning experiences using Zoom may continue.
- Additional authorization protocols are being developed.
- Incidents have been reported to police and will continue to be reported should any other events occur in the future.
