“10 Ways to Secure Zoom!
- Use a unique ID for Large or Public Zoom Calls: When you schedule a Zoom meeting, look for the Meeting ID options and choose “Generate Automatically.” Doing so plugs up one of the biggest holes that Zoom-bombers can exploit.
- Require a Meeting Password: One way to protect the meeting is to require a password. You can give the password out only to those who have replied and seem credible. To password-protect a meeting, start by scheduling a meeting and checking the box next to “Require meeting password.”
- Create a Waiting Room: When participants log into the call, they see a Waiting Room screen, the host, lets them in. You can let people in all at once or one at a time, which means if you see names you don’t recognize in the Waiting Room, you don’t have to let them in at all.
- Only the Hosts Should Share Their Screen: Make sure your settings indicate that the only people allowed to share their screens are hosts. You can enable this setting in advance as well as during a call.
- Create an Invite-Only Meeting: Only people who can join the call are those you invited, and they must sign in using the same email address you used to invite them.
- Lock a Meeting Once It Starts: While meeting is running, navigate to the bottom of the screen and click “Manage Participants.” The Participants Panel will open. At the bottom, choose “More>Lock Meeting.”
- Kick Someone Out or Put Them on Hold: During the call, go to the participants pane on the right. Hover over the name of the person you want to boot and when options appear, choose “Remove.”
- Disable Someone’s Camera: If someone is being rude or inappropriate on video, the host can open the “Participants” panel and click on the video camera icon next to the person’s name.
- Prevent Animated GIFs and Other Files in the Chat: In the chat area of a Zoom meeting, participants can share files, including images and animated GIFs if you let them.
- Disable Private Chat: Open Settings in the Zoom web app (it’s not in the desktop app). On the left side, go to “Personal>Settings.” Then click “In Meeting” (Basic). Scroll until you see Private Chat. When the button is gray, it’s disabled. ” Credit: Design Liberty Leadership Development LLC
Navigating Zoom-Bombing
Resources for facilitating and shifting the conversation after an unwanted guest joins.
Hold Space
- Acknowledge what just happened. Give your class/group time to process.
- Invite members/participants/students to take a break, practice self-care in response to what they just saw.
- Set a time to reconnect (after 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.)
Check-In
- Pause your agenda/class for a moment to check-in- “How’s everyone doing?”
- Ask students/participants how/if they would like to finish the meeting. Some questions to consider:
- Do we want to reschedule?
- How much more of our agenda do we need to attend to?
- What can wait until tomorrow and what can’t?
Close Your Conversation with Compassion
- Based on your check-in, close your meeting with a check-out. Here’s some possibilities:
- “What’s one thing everyone will do to take care of themselves?”
- “How will you prioritize your wellness today?”
- “Is there anything else folks feel like they need?”
Connect
- Offer resources for care and support. Remind folks that if things are activated in them later on, or right now after this interruption, help is available.
- https://www.wesleyan.edu/sace/resources.html
For more information on preventing Zoom-Bombing, see these resources: