Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, people have become increasingly reliant on Zoom video calls, which means an increased risk of Zoom-bombing incidents.
Zoom-bombing is when hackers gain access to a Zoom meeting and attempt to disrupt the call and upset participants with a variety of tactics, such as shouting profanities, racial slurs or putting disturbing images on the video call.
"Zoom is a key enabler of the information technology strategy of 'Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device,' and at a time like this, we need these tools more than ever," said Lisa Bazis, chief information security officer for Nebraska Medicine and UNMC. "As with all technology, ensuring proper use is the key to ensuring a safe and secure experience for all our users."
To remain vigilant in keeping the unwanted out, Zoom has many features available for colleagues to ensure meetings they create are safe and secure. Below are a few tips and recommendations to make sure a Zoom meeting is secure:
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Do not advertise a private Zoom meeting on a public facing webpage with the embedded password included. This includes the UNMC and Nebraska Medicine websites and social media.
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Promote your meeting on sites that require logins and passwords, such as the UNMC intranet site or Nebraska Medicine's NOW.
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Do not forward meeting invites or share a meeting ID.
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Add a password to all meetings. This is done in the meeting schedule window by selecting the meeting password option.
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Use waiting rooms. This allows the host to admit people into the meeting.
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Host or co-host should monitor the meeting for any uninvited participants.
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Restrict video sharing.
If a meeting includes outside participants (non-employee, non-colleagues), take additional measures to safeguard the meeting.
Pre-meeting safeguards:
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Require registration.
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Enable the Waiting Room feature.
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Enable Only Authenticated Users can join.
In meeting safeguards:
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Disable "Annotation" when screen sharing.
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Lock meeting.
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Disable chat.
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Disable rename.
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Use host controls.
Taking steps to secure a meeting will prevent uninvited guests from entering the Zoom event and disrupting it.