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Zoom - Security
Below are tips on how to keep your Zoom meetings secure and protect against Zoombombing.
Scheduling a Meeting
The following security features are available in your “Schedule a Meeting” window in your Zoom account.
- Enable waiting room: This feature allows you to see all participants in a waiting area before permitting them into the meeting.
- Meeting Password: This provides an additional layer of security, requiring your participants to have access to your meeting link as well as the numerical password.
- Require Authentication to Join: Selecting this setting will assure that only participants who are signed into a Zoom account will be able to join your meeting.
- Mute participants upon entry: Selecting this feature ensures that no participant joining the meeting will be able to unmute their microphone unless you as the host provide that permission
- Participant Video: Turning the participant video off will ensure that participants are unable to use their camera in the connection and potentially distract other participants
- Allow participants to join anytime: This feature should be unchecked as it would allow anybody with your meeting link to start your meeting without your participation.
While In a Meeting
The following security features are available in your running Zoom call.
- Mute participants: You can select to mute all participants as they enter the meeting, mute all participants, or mute individual participants - more info
- Lock your meeting: This will prevent any new participants from joining your meeting - more info
- Enable waiting room: You can enable and disable your waiting room while in your meeting - more info
- Stop participants' video: This will turn off the video feed from all participants - more info
- Remove participants: This will remove any selected participants from your meeting - more info
- Disable screen sharing: This will remove the ability for participants to share their screen in your Zoom connection - more info
- Hide profile pictures: This will hide the profile pictures of all participants in your meeting - more info
- Disable chat: You can turn the chat off for all participants, o adjust who they can contact via chat - more info
- Remove ability to change name: This will prohibit participants from changing their profile name once in the meeting - more info
- Suspend All Activities: This feature will immediate stop all audio, video, screen sharing and locks your meeting. This is the quickest way to recover your meeting after a Zoombombing.
Zoombombing Overview
Zoombombing is a term indicating that a user has shared their screen or otherwise caused disruption in a public Zoom meeting (or any virtual forum). That person may take over the meeting and share inappropriate content with attendees. This is rarely an issue with smaller, private meetings, but can be more likely with a public forum.
Best Practices to Prevent Zoombombing
- Do not share Zoom Meeting information on Social Media or Website when possible. Meetings whose details are shared publicly on a website or social media are at a higher risk for Zoombombing.
- The default on Zoom meetings scheduled with the NDSU license is to only allow a host to screen share. To allow for multiple people to screen share, the host should designate an attendee as a co-host during the meeting. The host and co-hosts will be allowed to screen share. This prevents unexpected shared content from the audience and restricts sharing to only host-selected participants.
- Bad actors may present themselves as a trusted person to gain access to permissions. Regardless of how an individual presents their name, NDSU IT recommends requiring visual or voice confirmation of a participant's identity before allowing them to share screen or granting them co-host permissions.
- Not all Zoombombing originates with screen sharing. Never open an unknown link in a Zoom chat. If chat is not necessary for your meeting, consider restricting or disabling chat entirely.
- Consider using the "Raise Hand" feature during Q&A sessions. Hosts will be notified that the participant wishes to speak. They can then unmute participants who wish to ask questions. Hosts should mute the user when their question is finished. Hosts should only unmute trusted participants.
- Zoom's Best Practices for Securing Zoom Meetings
- Additional instructions on screen sharing can be found here: Zoom - Allowing Participants to Screen Share During Zoom Meetings
- Additional security tips for Zoom can be found here: Zoom - Security
If a meeting is Zoombombed, hosts should:
- Remain calm. You have the necessary tools to control the incident and protect your participants.
- In the Security panel, select "Suspend Participant Activities." This will disable all video, audio, screen sharing, and chat.
- End the Meeting.
Steps to take after a Zoombombing Incident:
- See NDSU Zoombombing Incident - Internal Protocol
- Do not download, copy, manipulate or view the video.
- Contact Campus Police.
- Email IT Security with details about the incident.
- Contact the platform to which the event was streamed. (Facebook, etc.)
- Follow up with participants where possible to remind them who they can speak after a traumatic incident.
Additional Zoom Security Video Tutorials
- Scheduling a Zoom Meeting - Security Settings (01:58)
- This video provides best practices that hosts should follow before the meeting even starts. Hosts can set passcodes, create waiting rooms and/or require users to authenticate before joining to improve security.
- Zoom In Meeting Security Settings (02:07)
- This video reviews the different options available to hosts and co-hosts within a Zoom meeting. It also provides instruction on adding or restricting participant permissions, removing participants from the meeting and explains how to suspend the meeting in case of Zoombombing.
- Additional In-Meeting Security Settings in Zoom (02:56)
- This video provides a more in-depth view of in meeting security settings. Topics include restricting meeting chat, how to mute or rename specific participants and additional screen sharing options like screen annotation.