Zoom Security

(This page has been adapted from Zoom's page on Zoom meeting security)

Zoom is a powerful, very easy to use tool, but we do have to be careful how we use it so that we can be sure that only the appropriate people are in our meetings.

Zoom for Public Events:

• When you share your meeting link on social media or other public forums, that makes your event … extremely public. ANYONE with the link can join your meeting.
• Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events.
• Use the waiting room or other security features (below) to control who has access to your audience.

Manage screen sharing

It's important that you are careful to not give screen sharing permissions to anyone you are not sure is an authorized user of your zoom meeting.

You can restrict this — before the meeting and during the meeting in the host control bar — so that you’re the only one who can screen-share.

To prevent users from screen sharing during a call, using the host controls at the bottom, click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options.

Under “Who can share?” choose “Only Host” and close the window. You can also lock the Screen Share by default for all your meetings in your web settings.

Passwords are Required

Passwords are required for all zoom sessions hosted by Wichita State accounts.  This is a security measure that was adopted in response to incidents of zoom event disruption by univited guests.  

If you are trying to enter an event that requires a password you dont have, you need to contact the host of the event.  

If you are the host of an event that was created without a password, and now your participants need one to get in, you can address this problem in two ways:

• You can send an updated invitation to all invitees. The password will be added as an encrypted paramter in the link you share, and users will be able to enter just by clicking the link
• You can send the password to all invitees, and they will be able to manually enter the password as they enter your event. 

Manage your participants

Some of the other great features to help secure your Zoom event and host with confidence:

• Allow only signed-in users to join: If someone tries to join your event and isn’t logged into Zoom with the email they were invited through, they will receive this message:

This is useful if you want to control your guest list and invite only those you want at your event — other students at your school or colleagues, for example. 

To take advantage of this features, however, you will need to make sure to invite everyone who will attend through Zoom. 

• Lock the meeting: When you lock a Zoom Meeting that’s already started, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password (if you have required one). In the meeting, click Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants pop-up, click the button that says Lock Meeting.
• Set up your own two-factor authentication: You don’t have to share the actual meeting link! Generate a random Meeting ID when scheduling your event and require a password to join. Then you can share that Meeting ID on Twitter but only send the password to join via DM.
• Remove unwanted or disruptive participants: From that Participants menu, you can mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that to kick someone out of the meeting.
• Allow removed participants to rejoin: When you do remove someone, they can’t rejoin the meeting. But you can toggle your settings to allow removed participants to rejoin, in case you boot the wrong person.
• Put them on hold: You can put everyone else on hold, and the attendees’ video and audio connections will be disabled momentarily. Click on someone’s video thumbnail and select Start Attendee On Hold to activate this feature. Click Take Off Hold in the Participants list when you’re ready to have them back.
• Disable video: Hosts can turn someone’s video off. This will allow hosts to block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate gestures on video or for that time your friend’s inside pocket is the star of the show.
• Mute participants: Hosts can mute/unmute individual participants or all of them at once. Hosts can block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate noise from other participants. You can also enable Mute Upon Entry in your settings to keep the clamor at bay in large meetings.
• Turn off file transfer: In-meeting file transfer allows people to share files through the in-meeting chat. Toggle this off to keep the chat from getting bombarded with unsolicited pics, GIFs, memes, and other content.
• Turn off annotation: You and your attendees can doodle and mark up content together using annotations during screen share. You can disable the annotation feature in your Zoom settings to prevent people from writing all over the screens.
• Disable private chat: Zoom has in-meeting chat for everyone or participants can message each other privately. Restrict participants’ ability to chat amongst one another while your event is going on and cut back on distractions. This is really to prevent anyone from getting unwanted messages during the meeting.

Try the Waiting Room 

One of the best ways to use Zoom for public events is to enable the Waiting Room feature. Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them.

Meeting hosts can customize Waiting Room settings for additional control, and you can even personalize the message people see when they hit the Waiting Room so they know they’re in the right spot. This message is really a great spot to post any rules/guidelines for your event, like who it’s intended for.

The Waiting Room is really a great way to screen who’s trying to enter your event and keep unwanted guests out.