As Zoom has become the platform of choice for our educational and remote work needs, you may be aware of the Zoom-bombing issue. It refers to uninvited guests sharing their screens to “bombard” real attendees with disturbing content. Most of these “attacks” are perpetrated via public available Zoom links; however, some of them may happen to MBKU users, depending on our settings.
Following are some best practices that could prevent or minimize a Zoom-bombing incident:
- Invitations: Avoid using social media channels to send invitation links to targeted audiences.
- Do not give up control of your screen: Manage screen sharing accordingly, so you are the only one who can screen-share.
- Lock the meeting: If you lock the meeting that has started already, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password.
- Set up your own two-factor authentication: Generate a random Meeting ID when scheduling your event and require a password to join.
- Remove unwanted or disruptive participants: From the participants menu, you can mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including “Remove”. Click to kick someone out of the meeting.
- Disable video: Hosts have the ability of muting/unmuting individual participants or all of them at once. Hosts can block improper, unwelcome, or distracting gestures on video. Hosts can also mute upon entry in settings to keep noise down in large meetings.
- Turn-off file transfer: In-meeting file transfer allows people to share files through the in-meeting chat. Turn this function off to keep the chat from being inundated with unwanted images, GIFs, memes, and other unsolicited content.
- Disable Private Chat: Limit participant’s ability to chat among one another while the event is going on and minimize distractions.
- Use a Waiting Room: This feature is a virtual staging area prevents your invitees from joining until you are ready for them. Hosts can post a message here to present the guidelines for the meeting.
- Avoid using your personal meeting room for public meetings: If someone gets access to your personal meeting room ID and the personal link, they could potentially then join any meeting in the room at any time.
For additional security tips, click in the link below to access Zoom best practices page:
Please protect your credentials and familiarize yourself with all Zoom security features before starting your remote session. We all play a key role ensuring the privacy and security of MBKU’s data and its users.