"Zoombombing" happens when a non-secured meeting ID is shared or guessed and an uninvited, anonymous attendee connects and eavesdrops or sometimes shares inappropriate content.
As a best practice, it is always advised to frequently check your Zoom application for the latest updates as Zoom frequently provides security patches & other updates to provide you with a secure web conferencing experience. To check for the latest updates: open your Zoom application, click on your profile picture and then click on Check for Updates and follow the prompts. Click here for additional information about updating Zoom.
Starting on Sept. 27, 2020, Zoom will require you to have either a waiting room (#3 on the list below) or passcode (#2 on the list below) set up for your Zoom meetings. This is to increase security of their meetings. The Waiting Room security feature is the default setting for Zoom meetings.
Use the below tips to learn more about securing your Zoom meeting:
1. Lock the Meeting
As a security precaution, once all Participants have joined, the Meeting can be locked to prevent anyone else from joining.
- Make sure the Participants area is showing (select Manage Participants from the Meeting controls, at the bottom of the Meeting window).
- In the additional controls at the bottom of the Participants area, click on More (the three dots in the grey circle).
- Select Lock Meeting
Use these same steps to unlock the meeting, should that be required.
Note that once a Meeting has been locked, no one else may join and there will not be any notifications to the meeting Host at that point if additional Participants try to join. You will want to wait to lock a Meeting until you are sure that all Participants are in the Meeting. If students in a class lose their connection, they will not be allowed re-entry into a locked meeting.
2. Set a Meeting Passcode
When you set up your meeting, you can require that a passcode be used to join the Meeting. If you want to enable this in a previously created metting, you can edit the Meeting settings:
- Click the box next to Passcode so a check mark appears, and box turns blue. A passcode will automatically be generated.
- You can either give your students the passcode in your eLearn shell or send them the link to the meeting with the passcode embedded.
3. Enable Waiting Room
The Zoom Waiting Room permits the host to use the Waiting Room as a holding area; Participants can only enter the Meeting when the host allows.
There is also the option of customizing the dialog box seen by Participants upon joining, with a title, logo and description.
In each Meeting where Waiting Room is used, each Participant attempting to join the meeting will see a dialog box with the message, The meeting is waiting for the host to join.
Managing the Waiting Room
- Open the Participants list when in your meeting. You will see who is in the waiting room.
- Then hover over the space to the right of their name and click Admit.
- You can turn on a sound so a chime is played when someone enters the waiting room or room.
- Go to the bottom of the Participants list and click the 3 dots at the bottom right.
- Enable plays sound when someone joins or leaves.
- If you are sharing your screen or do not have the participant list open, you will still hear a sound. You will also see this notification appear on the screen you are sharing. You just need to click the blue Admit button to let them in.
- Note: If you let in someone who does not belong, you can remove them or put in waiting room. Hover to the right of their name in the Participant list. Click More and you will see a drop-down menu. Select Remove from the list.
4. Disable Enable Join Before Host Setting
While not actually securing a Meeting, the Enable join before host setting controls whether Participants can enter the Meeting room before the host joins. By unchecking this setting, any Participants attempting to join the meeting will see a dialog box with the message, The meeting is waiting for the host to join.
However, as mentioned above, if the Waiting Room is enabled for a Meeting, the Enable Join Before Host setting does not function.
5. Add One or More Co-Hosts for Meetings with Many Participants
Including an alternative host, or elevating one or more Participants to the role of Co-Host once the Meeting is started, makes it easier to monitor the Participants area, as well as the Chat area. Co-host(s) can remove any unauthorized or disruptive Participants, and/or can lock the meeting (see above for more detailed instructions). Co-hosts should scroll down the Participants list a few times during the Meeting to monitor who is attending.
6. Scheduling Meetings via Outlook Plugin
Adding a Meeting to an Outlook calendar through the Outlook plugin may expose the password to anyone who has viewing permissions on that calendar, because the password is included in the calendar entry by default. To get around this problem, either make such calendar entries private or edit the text to remove the password.
7. Removing an Unauthorized Participant from a Meeting
Once the Meeting has been started, Participants can be manually removed:
- Make sure the Participants area is showing (select Manage Participants from the Meeting controls, at the bottom of the Meeting window).
- At the entry for the Participant to be removed, select More.
- In the list that pops up, select Remove.