Zoom safely!
Zoom has recently been embraced by millions of people around the world trapped in their homes by the coronavirus. Unfortunately, Zoom’s sudden rise in popularity has not come without growing pains. In the last few weeks Zoom has been buried in an avalanche of bad press after numerous security flaws have been revealed. One US middle school held a virtual classroom that was suddenly disrupted when a hacker joined and shared obscene adult content. This trend is now known as “Zoom-Bombing.”
Whether using Zoom for social, business, or educational purposes, use these four easy tips to protect your meeting!
- Make sure you are using the latest version
Zoom has been tightening its security and fixing bugs by updating its application. One recent addition is the helpful “Security” badge in the bottom in-meeting toolbar. This gives easy access to features that can be used by a host throughout your meeting. To see if you need to update Zoom on your computer, open the Zoom application and click on your profile icon in the upper right-hand corner and select “Check for updates” from the drop-down menu.
- Restrict screen sharing
This quick step helps avoid the horror story of hackers being able to share their screen to show explicit or malicious material after joining. Unless you know your guests need to share their screen, then simply limit that ability to the host. After clicking the Security icon, you can uncheck the “Screen Share” button for participants. As the host, you are still able to share your screen.
You can also find this feature by clicking the up-arrow next to the “Share Screen” tab and choosing “Advanced Sharing Options…”
- Use the Waiting Room
Zoom’s Waiting Room feature is the perfect solution for controlling who enters the meeting. When this is enabled, users trying to join the meeting will be taken to a virtual waiting room. They will show up to the host in the Participants tab as waiting to be admitted. By selecting or hovering over their name you can allow or decline their request to join. Use this as a standard practice for all meetings you host and it allows you to make sure only authorized guests enter the meeting. For more details on how to customize your Waiting Room you can read this Zoom blog post.
- Lock the meeting once everyone has joined
If you know that you already have all desired participants in the meeting, the Security options also give you the ability to lock the meeting. Users trying to connect after you lock the meeting will be given a message that the meeting has been locked by the host. Whether it’s a long-distance date night, a business meeting, or a virtual session with your therapist, lock the meeting once it gets started to make sure your video conference stays private!
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