How to hold safe Zoom meetings

The university has to date hosted more than 90,000 Zoom meetings in the wake of social isolation protocols. On April 16, a Zoombombing occurred during a student’s thesis defense. Zoombombing is when uninvited attendees break into and disrupt a meeting.

The Office of Information Security and WashU IT offer the following tips to help ensure safe Zoom meetings:

• Screen sharing should default to “Host Only” – do not change to “Participants.” If someone besides the host needs to screen share, they can be elevated to co-host.
• “Require Meeting Password” is defaulted to on. This helps protect against unauthorized entries, adding a second layer of security on top of just having the meeting link.
• “Use Personal Meeting ID” is defaulted to off. Using these IDs is a key entry point for attackers.
• Keep links to Zoom meetings private. This will prevent unwanted participants. Do not share Zoom meeting links on public websites or on social media, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Control who enters a meeting with the waiting room feature.
• Lock the meeting after it starts. When you’re in the meeting, click “Participants” at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants’ pop-up box, you will see a button that says “Lock Meeting.”