Since the coronavirus lockdown, Zoom’s daily active users has grown from 10 million to 200 million as people turn to the platform to carry out work calls, yoga classes, school sessions, family quizzes, and even host virtual parliament.
After several highly publicised security concerns and so called “zoom bombings” (where meetings are invaded by uninvited guests), Zoom have recently added a whole host of new features to strengthen security and privacy. These features include a stronger encryption standard and improved controls for hosts such as waiting rooms and the ability to report users.
Our top tips to maximise your Zoom Security
- Make sure you have updated your Zoom client to version 5. From experience, it can take a while for the program to update automatically.
Link: Update to the latest version of Zoom. - Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events. Your PMI is basically one continuous meeting and you do not want random people crashing your personal virtual space after the party’s over.
- Add a password to all meetings (now a default setting in version 5) and distribute this to your guests. You could share the password privately by email, rather than posting the link including the password publicly online (unless you want lots of attendees you don’t know!)
- Set screen sharing to host only. You do not want random people in your public event taking control of the screen and sharing unwanted content with the group. You can restrict this, both before and during the meeting in the host control bar, so that you’re the only one who can screen-share.
Link: Host and co-host controls in a meeting. - Enable the waiting room feature so that you can control who comes into the meeting and keep unwanted guests out.
Link: Enabling the waiting room. - Set attendees to join with video disabled. They can then manually enable it when they are ready.
- Lock the meeting. It is always smart to lock your front door, even when you are inside the house. When you lock a Zoom Meeting that has already started, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password. In the meeting, click Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants pop-up, click the button that says Lock Meeting.
Also, remember to mute your microphone when you are not talking. Not only is it good etiquette, it may help you avoid a slip up!
Link: Welsh Minister caught swearing on Zoom call
