Zoom has been hit by some “bad actors (cyber hackers)”, which has created security challenges in using its virtual conferencing tools. Effective April 5th, Zoom implemented a few security measures for meetings and webinars. Here they are, the current Zoom security best practices for keeping your meetings and webinars protected.
Steps For Enhanced Zoom Security
Make sure to use these two settings when creating new meetings:
- Meeting passwords are a requirement and default for joining Zoom via phone or computer.
- “Enable Waiting Room” is turned on when creating a meeting. The Waiting Room allows the host to control when a participant joins the meeting. The Waiting Room is one of the best ways to control who’s entering your Zoom meeting by giving you the option to admit participants individually or all at once. We highly recommend using this feature to secure your meetings and prevent unwanted participants if a link is shared outside of the intended guest list. Learn more about the Waiting Room feature.
Zoom also recommends disabling Desktop Screen Sharing. If you need Desktop Screen Sharing for a meeting, you can disable it for participants but leave it enable for the the meeting host. The host then has control to screen share and allow access for a participant to show their screen.
What Zoom Is Doing About Security Concerns
In addition to the extra measures it rolled out April 5th, making meetings passwords a requirement and default and enabling waiting rooms, Zoom is rolling out another update. This one, called Zoom 5.0, improves the encryption standard for protection of meeting data and higher resistance against tampering. According to the company, the new encryption standard is comparable to that of leading tech companies. The security update also allows meeting hosts to report inappropriate users for review. Zoom 5.0 will be effective April 27, and all users will be switched to the new encryption standard by May 30.
This latest update is part of Zoom’s 90-Day Security Plan. For more details on their 90-day plan, including what else has already been done and answers to FAQs, read Zoom’s latest security update blog post here.
As of April 24, Zoom usage had increased to 300 million users.
Related Links
Zoom Settings Updates For Free Accounts + Single Pro Users (April 2020)
How To Keep Uninvited Guests Out Of Your Zoom Event
How To Keep Your Zoom Chats Private + Secure
Includes:
- Stopping “Zoombombs”
- Restricting Users
- Staying Private
- Trying Alternative Video Conferencing Platforms
7 Best Practices To Secure Virtual Meetings
