King County is seeing an increase in automated “meeting bots” attempting to join Microsoft Teams meetings—sometimes without the meeting organizer’s knowledge. These bots can pose a serious security risk; unauthorized bots may record, transcribe, or export meeting content to external systems, potentially exposing confidential information.

Microsoft Teams now detects many external bots and places them in the meeting lobby, clearly marking them as automated participants. However, human approval is still required: someone in the meeting must choose whether to admit or block the bot.

What you should do:

• If you see a bot appear in the meeting lobby or participant list, do not admit it.
• Only admit attendees you recognize and expect.
• If you are unsure about a participant, ask the meeting organizer before approving entry.
• Avoid using personal or third‑party AI notetaker tools in work meetings unless they have been explicitly approved.
• Be cautious when joining meetings hosted by organizations outside King County. External hosts may use AI notetaking or recording tools, so share only information suitable for external environments.
• Report unexpected bot activity immediately to the KCIT Helpdesk by submitting a ticket or calling (206) 263-HELP.

Every employee plays an important role in maintaining public trust through responsible stewardship of our data and systems (see King County’s ACTIVATE values). Thank you for staying vigilant and helping to ensure sensitive conversations remain secure.