Italian Senate Zoom Hearing Was Bombed With A Porn Scene From Final Fantasy

A discussion about open data research in the Italian Senate being held in the presence of a Nobel laureate was Zoom-bombed by some miscreants who went on to play some inappropriate content for public viewing, Vice reported. 

Zoom-bombing is the term used for uninvited attendees of a teleconference who post irrelevant and often lewd content, disrupting the course of discussion. The incidence of this activity increased along with the use of teleconferencing during the pandemic. In August 2020, we had reported that the court hearing of an alleged Twitter hacker was also Zoom-bombed, and a rising number of incidents had led many organizations to ban the use of the service as well. 

Zoom had then responded by increasing the security features on its teleconferencing services such as requiring users to use passwords for each meeting, thereby limiting unwanted intrusions. However, all those defenses were broken one more time at a hearing being conducted by the Italian Senate. 

According to details shared by Vice, the hearing was being attended by some of the prominent political leaders as well as researchers and scientists from the country. Giorgio Parisi, who won the Nobel Prize in 2021 for physics was also among those attending the discussion about open data when Japanese could be heard. 

Within seconds, the screen displayed a 3D scene of a Final Fantasy character, Tifa Lockhart, engaging in the act accompanied by moaning sounds. The meeting organizer was quick to realize what was happening and removed the uninvited attendee. One of the senators at the meeting later reported the event to the police, local media reported. 

It is unclear who the miscreant was or their motive behind doing this. While it might seem like a prank, Zoom-bombing has been a hindrance for many schools that used an online mode of education in attempts to reduce physical contact throughout the pandemic. It was also used to disrupt addiction recovery programs, New York Post had reported, and has also been used to show content involving child abuse, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had found.