We have all heard the stories about ‘zoombombing’; strangers joining a Zoom call to promote hate, ignorance, or annoyance. The issue became so great that the FBI even issued an official warning about the use of Zoom. But do not worry, Zoom is secure and can be used safely with a few simple setting changes. Here are five easy steps you can perform to lock down your Zoom account and stop the Zoom intruders.
1. Personal Meeting ID Secrecy
Your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) is personal your meeting room. Your PMI does not change, and anyone with the ID can join your personal meeting room at any time without hindrance, except for passwords and waiting rooms (see below). When scheduling a meeting you have the option to use your PMI or a random ID. Always use the random ID for scheduled meetings, or whenever possible.
However, the exception to this rule is people you know and find trustworthy. Giving out your PMI is like giving out a house key; the recipient can stop by anytime they want, but hopefully they wait for an invite and do not share it with others.
You can change your meeting ID to random IDs in settings.
- From the Zoom Website
- Under the Personal heading access the settings page
- On the Meeting tab scroll down to find Use Personal Meeting ID (PMI) when scheduling a meeting and disable this option.
2. Enable Waiting Rooms
Waiting rooms are great tools for monitoring who you want in your meeting. When a new participant joins the meeting, invited or otherwise, they are placed into a virtual waiting room, where you the host can accept them into your meeting. Waiting Rooms are a great option if you want to make joining simple but still want security.
Enable your waiting room in the settings:
- From the Zoom Website
- Under the Personal heading access the settings page
- Scroll to or go to the In Meeting (Advanced) section
- Enable Waiting Room
3. Password Protect Meetings
The easiest way to protect your zoom meeting is by adding a password. Passwords introduce a security measure before even making it to the waiting room. A password can be added when scheduling a meeting and can be enabled by default in the settings
- From the Zoom Website
- Under the Personal heading access the settings page
- On the Meeting tab scroll down to find Require a Password… and enable this option.
- You can use a password on Personal Meetings and Scheduled meetings. Use your best judgement for how to best setup your account.
4. Disable Screen Sharing
Screen sharing is an important part of doing presentations and remote assistance. However, the last thing you want is someone joining your meeting and sharing offensive images or videos to your meeting. Unless there is a reason for everyone to be able to screen share, I would set this to host only. And if you need others to present, you can turn on sharing for everyone or make the user a co-host.
- From the Zoom Website
- Under the Personal heading access the settings page
- Scroll to or go to the In Meeting (Basic) section
- Disable/Enable Screen Sharing entirely or select who can share their screen
5. Updates
Zoom is constantly putting out new updates for their software and improving security. Staying up to date with the latest and greatest is important. Always upgrade your software to get the latest security and features. The Zoom desktop app checks for updates automatically, however, by clicking on your picture, or initials, in the top right corner, you can select Check for Updates manually.
At the end of the day, you must decide what level of security you are comfortable with to stop Zoom intruders. You do not need to change all five settings as there is a fine line between being secure and being a nuisance. However, as we begin to use video meetings more often; we need to make sure we understand how to secure those platforms.