The National Cyber Emergency Response Team (National CERT) has issued a warning over rising cyber threats targeting video conferencing platforms, including Zoom and Google Meet.
In its advisory, National CERT highlighted a surge in incidents such as unauthorized access to meetings, account takeovers, and data leaks, driven by the increased reliance on online meeting tools. The advisory cautioned that platforms used without proper security settings are vulnerable to hacking, service disruption, and attacks on users’ devices.
The team specifically pointed to the ongoing risk of “Zoom bombing”, where attackers exploit weak security controls to enter private meetings without permission, potentially exposing confidential discussions, sensitive data, and organizational systems. According to the advisory, successful attacks could allow unauthorized participants to join meetings, steal information, disrupt services, or misuse platform management tools.
To mitigate risks, National CERT recommended sharing meeting links securely, issuing meeting IDs shortly before sessions, enabling waiting rooms, locking meetings once all participants have joined, and restricting screen sharing to hosts. Users were also urged to treat meeting links like sensitive login credentials and maintain updated software and operating systems on devices used for video calls.
The advisory further stressed the importance of strong organizational controls, including layered security measures, network segmentation, intrusion detection, continuous monitoring, and secure backups. In the event of suspicious activity, organizations should immediately remove unauthorized users, report incidents, and review system logs.
National CERT said the guidance is aimed at helping government departments, businesses, and individual users reduce cyber risks as the use of video conferencing platforms continues to expand across Pakistan.
