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Avoid Zoombombings: Secure your Zoom meetings
Posted August 21, 2020
By Emily Macios
As the go-to platform for virtual meetings, Zoom has become a worldwide phenomenon. This global popularity makes Zoom meetings vulnerable to unwanted guests. Nobody wants to experience a “Zoombombing” during an important meeting. That’s why it’s so important to secure your Zoom meetings.
Here are some best practices, during scheduling and in-meeting, for securing your Zoom meetings.
Scheduling:
Require a passcode (formerly called password)
Enable the “Require meeting password” option so that participants must enter a password to join your meeting.
Starting September 27th, Zoom will require passcodes on all meetings. If a passcode is not set for scheduled meetings after September 27th, Zoom will automatically enable the waiting room for that meeting.
Follow these instructions to add a passcode to your existing scheduled meetings:
https://kb.siue.edu/103545
Enable a waiting room
Enable the “Enable Waiting Room” option so that participants are held in a virtual waiting room prior to the meeting. This gives you the ability to screen participants before admitting them to join the meeting.
Disable join before host
Disable the “Enable join before host” option to ensure participants cannot join the meeting before you arrive.
In-Meeting:
Lock the Meeting
Once all participants have arrived, you can lock down your meeting. This will prevent anyone else from joining the meeting.
Click the ‘Participants’ tab, select ‘More’, and check ‘Lock Meeting.'
Disable chat
Turn off chat to avoid unwanted or inappropriate chat messages.
Click the 'Chat' tab, select the 3 dots, and select 'No one' under the Participants Can Chat With: option.
General practices
Check for updates
Always keep your Zoom app updated. Check for updates regularly by clicking your profile icon in the top right, and selecting ‘Check for updates.’
Sharing your link
Be very careful with sharing your Zoom meeting links. It is highly recommended that you do NOT post the meeting link on public channels (website, social media, etc).
Using a combination of these settings and general practices should prevent any unwanted guests. However, if an unwanted guest somehow still makes it into your meeting, you can simply remove them from your meeting.
Click ‘More’ next to their name and select ‘Remove.’
Here are some additional tips for securing your Zoom meetings:
https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Securing%20Your%20Zoom%20Meetings.pdf