Posted by: TAZ Networks on April 10, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Wondering how to secure your Zoom and other teleconference meetings? Here are 7 security measure to take…
Zoom seems to have burst out of nowhere as the go-to virtual meeting platform. In fact, CNET notes that the number of daily meeting participants grew from 10 million in December to 200 million in March.
Part of the reason is that Zoom is very easy to use. Nearly every age range, from kindergarten students to senior citizens, has been able to log in and participate in meetings. However, we’ve probably all seen the numerous news articles about Zoom-bombing and other Zoom security risks.
If you are hosting or managing Zoom meetings, how can you secure them to prevent disruptions and keep your company information confidential? Here are seven security measures we use and recommend:
- Require a password. Did you know you can require a password for your Zoom meetings? This feature shouldn’t be a surprise; but many meetings have been left open and the link shared publicly. This is practically inviting disruptions from Zoom-bombers and other unwanted guests. Give your invited participants a password, and make sure it isn’t something obvious like… “Password.”
- Enable the waiting room. Know who is your meeting! Passwords can be shared without your knowledge. The “waiting room” feature allows you to see who is trying to join your meeting before granting access.
- Disable collaboration features. Unless your team is working together to review and edit a document or design, disable the annotation, whiteboard and remote control settings. For most everyday meetings, these features won’t be needed.
- Disable recordings. Unless you regularly record in-person meetings, you probably don’t need to record Zoom meetings. Disable recordings if you don’t need them.
- Use chat carefully. Do you need the chat feature or can you unmute participants (see #6 below) as needed? While chats may appear hidden or private during the meeting, they can be seen by all at the end of the meeting in a review feature. If using chat, remind meeting guests that their comments will become public to the group.
- Mute all participants. Have participants use the “Raise Hand” command and unmute individuals as they need to speak.
- Remember to end the meeting when done! If you’ve done the previous steps, leaving your meeting open doesn’t present a huge risk. Closing the meeting, however, frees up your meeting code for the next session.
Alternatives to Zoom
Zoom is not the only easy-to-use teleconferencing software! Here are a few others that businesses use regularly:
- Go-to-Meeting
- Slack
- Teams (part of O365)
Need help? Reach out or give us a call.