Prevent Zoom Bombing

Summary

Basic steps to make Zoom meetings more secure

Body

Introduction

Zoom bombing is when an uninvited attendee joins your meeting and attempts to cause disruption. Below are some basic tips to avoid a Zoom bomber.

Preventative measures | Before meeting

Zoom through Moodle

To make Zoom meetings secure, create your scheduled Zoom meeting inside of Moodle ISU. Only students in the course can access the meeting, unless you share the meeting link with individuals outside of Moodle ISU.

Require a passcode

When you set up the Zoom session, check the box that requires a meeting password to join. You'll still share the link with your class, but you will also share the password, usually in a separate email. The students then click the link and enter the password to join the Zoom session.

For more information review: Managing Zoom Meetings passcodes

Waiting room

When you set up the Zoom session, enable the Waiting room feature so that you can monitor who is allowed to join a meeting.

For more information review: Using waiting room

Require authentication to join

When you set up the Zoom session, enable “Require authentication to join”. This prevents participants from joining as “Guests” and instead prompts the user to sign into their Zoom account. This ensures that each participant is associated with an email address.

Note: For individuals who don’t have a Zoom account, the host can create an authentication exception.

For more information review: Requiring authentication to join a meeting or webinar

Preventative measures | During meeting

Even with the correct security settings, there is still a chance for Zoom Bombings to occur. The host can do the following to maintain control.

Note: It is not recommended to end and immediately restart the same meeting, instead review the following sections.

Host Tools

As the Host of the meeting, the user will have the “Host tools” tab on the toolbar. This provides quick access to the various tools and permissions in the meeting.

If the meeting has been disrupted, the Host can select “Suspend participant activities” to Turn off all participants' video, audio, Zoom Apps, and ability to share their screen. The host can also lock the meeting to prevent participants from joining. This will apply to all participants, including those who joined using a Zoom Room.

For more information review: Changing security settings in a Zoom meeting

Manage participants

The Host of the meeting can do the following to specific participants who are disrupting the meeting:

Put in Waiting Room - Temporarily places the participant in a virtual waiting room.
Remove - Permanently remove the participant from the current meeting session.
Report - Reports the participant to Zoom's Trust and Safety team.

Note: Participants that you remove during the current session can rejoin a future session.

For more information review: Managing participants in a meeting

Lock Meeting

As the host, you can lock the meeting once all of your participants are in. In the Host tools tab, select Lock Meeting. This will block any unwanted participants.

Preventative measures | After meeting

New Meeting

Creating a new Meeting will generate a new ID and passcode; it's recommended to enable the other security options: Enable waiting room and Require authentication to join.

Report

Report your Zoom Bombing to help@isu.edu, include the meeting id that was impacted and date/time. If there is an uptick of Zoom bombings, ISU’s Zoom administrator can review the account-level security settings and make adjustments.

Contact ITS if you need additional assistance

Details

Article ID: 104815

Created

Wed 4/8/20 1:31 PM

Modified

Fri 11/8/24 11:41 PM