CAIR-NY Condemns Racist Hackers Who Infiltrated Esopus Town Board Zoom Meeting; Welcomes NY AG’s Probe into Zoom Security Practices
(NEW YORK, NY, 3/31/2020) — The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the actions of hackers who infiltrated a video meeting of the Esopus Town Board and went on a hateful rant. CAIR-NY also welcomes the NY Attorney General’s investigation into Zoom’s data privacy protection practices and security problems.
On Monday, Esopus Town Board’s Zoom video conference was interrupted by a group of hackers who displayed screenshots of hate group websites and Facebook pages and went on hateful rants, which included phrases such as, “hate all n—rs.”
See: Hackers hijack video of Esopus Town Board meeting, go on racist rant
In response to Zoom privacy concerns and data collection, yesterday, the New York Attorney General announced that her office will investigate the security measures Zoom has taken to accommodate for the increased traffic on its networks and to detect and block hackers.
See: New York Attorney General Looks into Zoom’s Privacy Practices
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher, Esq., said:
“The past few weeks, we have seen and condemned various acts of racism and hate — some directly and others tangentially linked to the coronavirus — espoused by both organized groups and individuals. Times of crisis have always led to the increased marginalization of minority groups and the ability for hateful groups to take advantage of the instability. We urge everyone to be vigilant and to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their communities from virtual hate and violence.
“CAIR-NY strongly supports New York Attorney General James’ investigation of Zoom’s security and privacy practices. Zoom and other remote work companies have an obligation to safeguard the data and privacy of their consumers. New Yorkers must have the ability to use these tools without compromising their data security.”
Nasher strongly urged and advised video conference participants to take the precautions, such as limiting access to their conference through the use of required passwords, in order to strengthen the security of their meetings.
SEE: https://uit.stanford.edu/service/zoom/meetingsecurityguide
To report a hate crime or bias-incident/discrimination to the Attorney General’s office, New Yorkers may call the AG’s hotline at 1-800-771-7755 or email civil.rights@ag.ny.gov.
New Yorkers are encouraged to also report all bias or discriminatory incidents or hate crimes to CAIR-NY at 646-665-7599 or online at https://www.cair-ny.org/incident-report/.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: Ahmed Mohamed, CAIR-NY Litigation Director, 646-481-2103, ahmedmohamed@cair.com; Afaf Nasher, Esq. Executive Director, CAIR-NY, 917-669-4006, anasher@cair.com