Securing Your Zoom Meetings
By default, Zoom's privacy and security settings are set to balance enough security for the normal user, while also being easy to use. This balance is the sum of dozens of features in Zoom that you might want to change according to your meeting demands.
We recommend you review the possible settings to find the right balance for you, but we highlight a few here to help secure your meetings immediately.
Effective Sept 27th, Zoom will require that all meetings have a Passcode or a Waiting Room enabled for all paid accounts. Passcodes have previously been referred to as passwords.
In this article:
In-Meeting Mute Participant Cameras and Mics
Limit Screen Sharing to the Host
Enable the Waiting Room Feature
Meeting Passcodes (formerly Meeting Passwords)
Remove an Unwanted Participant
Disable Join Before Host
If you schedule a meeting where sensitive information will be discussed, it's best to leave Join Before Host (found under Meeting Options when scheduling a meeting) disabled. Visit Zoom's Join Before Host help page for more information.
The Join Before Host option can be convenient to allow others to begin a meeting if you are not available to start it. However, with this option enabled, the first person who joins the meeting will automatically be made the host and will have full control over the meeting until the host joins.
There are options available to have others help manage your meetings as well: assign an
In-Meeting Mute Participant Cameras and Mics
While in a meeting, preferably as you are setting up and before participants join, you may configure the behavior of participants who join, under Manage Participants > More:
With these settings, participants cannot self-enable and do any disruptive audio.
If a participant turns on and uses their camera in a way that is disruptive, you may stop their camera or remove them by managing their entry in the Participants list:
Limit Screen Sharing to the Host
The default setting in place allows all participants to share, but it does not allow them to override the host. If you want, you can further restrict this setting so that only the host can share. While in your meeting:
- Click the up-arrow next to Share Screen.
2.
- Select “Advanced Sharing Options…”
- Under Who can share, click Host Only:
This won't be appropriate when multiple participants will need to share and collaborate, but setting this restriction when necessary will prevent unwanted guests from interrupting the meeting by initiating intrusive sharing.
You can also set the default behavior for all of your meetings in the Zoom web portal here: https://ucsb.zoom.us/profile/setting
Enable the Waiting Room Feature
The Waiting Room feature allows the host to control when each participant joins the meeting. As the meeting host, you can admit attendees individually, or hold all attendees in the virtual waiting room and admit them all together. This requires the host to do more work but allows participants to join only if you specifically admit them.
Lock Your Session
The Zoom Host Controls allow the host or co-host to lock the meeting. Once all your attendees have joined:
- If the Participants panel is not visible, click Manage Participants at the bottom of the Zoom window.
- At the bottom of the Participants panel, click More.
- From the list that appears, click Lock Meeting.
Unlock the meeting following these same steps.
When a meeting is locked, no one can join, and you (the host or co-host) will NOT be alerted if anyone tries to join, so don't lock the meeting until everyone has joined.
Meeting Passcodes (formerly Meeting Passwords)
Use Meeting Passcodes to prevent others from guessing your meeting ID. When you schedule a meeting or webinar, under Meeting Options, select Require meeting passcode, then specify a passcode. Participants will be asked for this passcode in order to join your meeting. You can also generate a link with the passcode embedded to make it easier for your participants.
Remove an Unwanted Participant
If you have already begun a session and find an unwanted attendee has joined or is being disruptive, a host or co-host may remove them:
- If the Participants panel is not visible, click Manage Participants at the bottom of the Zoom window.
- Next to the person, you want to remove, click More.
- From the list that appears, click Remove.
Additional Reading
Check out these articles for more information about securing your meeting from unwanted activity:
- UCSB IT- Increase your Zoom Security and Report Zoom bombing
- Keep Teaching: Increase your Zoom Security