Video conferencing has become a necessity as most are restricted to working from home. Zoom has become the go to conferencing option for both business and personal meetings. Zoom has been in the news lately for having lax security practices but there are options you can set which will make the meetings more secure.
Only give meeting info to those you would like to attend
It is very important to not share the meeting ID outside of those you plan on attending. This lessens the chances of people jumping on your meeting with malicious intent. It is also recommended to generate a meeting ID automatically. You do this when scheduling a meeting and checking the box next to “Generate Automatically”.
Utilize a meeting password
Most hacked Zoom meetings are from a person typing in a random set of numbers as the meeting ID. This can give them access to unprotected meetings, which is why it is so important to also have a meeting password. This will block their access.
When scheduling a meeting, make sure to check the box next to “Require meeting password”. This will generate a 6 digit password for that specific meeting.
Waiting room
You should also enable the waiting room when hosting a Zoom meeting. This requires the host to accept participants into the meeting. If someone is trying to enter the meeting that you do not recognize, you do not have to allow them access.
To enable the waiting room, check the box next to “Enable waiting room” when scheduling the meeting.
Do not allow attendee screen sharing
A lot of the problems users are experiences have been with unwanted participants sharing inappropriate content on their screen for all attendees to see.
If you don’t have a need for attendees to be able to share their screens, it is best to disable that feature.
When you have entered the meeting, click the ^ next to “Share Screen”. This will open a list. Click “Advanced Sharing Options…” which opens a window with sharing options. Click the circle next to “Only Host” under “Who can share?”.
Lock Meetings
Once all attendees have joined your meeting, it is important to lock it. When a meeting is locked, it will prevent anyone else from entering the meeting, even if they have the password.
When you have entered the meeting, click where it says “Security” with the shield. This will pull up a list, including Lock Meeting. Click “Lock Meeting” to lock it.
