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DENTON – The online Zoom livestream for the Denton Town Council meeting on November 6 was interrupted by hackers just a few minutes into the meeting, sharing explicit pornographic videos, audio, and messages on viewers’ screens.
“Of course, we take it very seriously when our meetings are compromised online and in person,” said Scott Getchell, Denton’s Town Manager. The attack lasted a few minutes before Denton’s Chief of Police, George Bacorn, was able to cut off the stream and readmit citizens to observe the rest of the hour-and-a-half-long meeting.
This is not the first time that Denton has experienced such a hack; a group of wrongdoers displayed similar content via a Town Council Zoom meeting in 2020. But Getchell said the changes made to beef up security while keeping the livestream available for residents have “worked very well for the past few years.”
“We already have what we thought was a pretty good security protocol in place…any participant wishing to join our meeting must register with a name and email address, then that person is sent to a waiting room for us to let in,” Getchell noted, “Somehow these people got past that system.”
Denton Mayor Abigail McNinch said the hijacking “undermines the spirit of respect and open dialogue that our community values so highly.” “Our team acted swiftly to protect everyone attending,” she said. Getchell added, “The Zoom bombing, though gross, totally inappropriate, and caught us by surprise, was under control within a few minutes thanks to the quick actions of Chief Bacorn.”
As for the long-term response to this issue, Getchell said he and Chief Bacorn met immediately following the meeting’s conclusion to discuss next steps, “Chief Bacorn and I spoke of a higher level of security that we may consider now, but it will come at a cost to the participant, so we must consider that carefully.” Mayor McNinch said that the Town will “continue to strengthen and refine our security measures to ensure our meetings remain safe and welcoming spaces for all.”
