Why?
Publicly shared Zoom links might attract trolls who disrupt your meetings. Appropriate Zoom settings can protect your sessions from embarrassment.
Impact
As WPI moves into the new term with plans to teach and work remotely, hackers and trolls are finding new ways to hinder that experience. These individuals have latched onto the video conferencing software, Zoom, and are using its screen sharing feature to blast other viewers with unpleasant videos from across the internet.
Action Needed
Don't tweet or share Zoom links publicly. Check Zoom settings and make changes as detailed below. Informational resources are also linked.
Details
Consider adjusting your Zoom settings when scheduling a meeting:
- Protect the details of your Zoom session: The time, date and session ID should only be known by the people you are inviting to the session.
- Enable Only authenticated users can join meetings: Participants need to authenticate prior to joining meetings.
- Change the screensharing feature to Host Only: Disabling default sharing by all will prevent uninvited attendees from sharing malicious content during your session.
- Disable the Join Before Host option: Preventing users from joining before you arrive preserves your control over the session. Use the waiting room feature vs. allowing people to join when host isn't present
- Enable the Co-Host option: This will assign moderation duties to another host (user) during your session. It is always a good idea to have someone looking out for you while you are busy leading the session.
- Disable the Allow Removed Participants to Rejoin option: This prevents anyone who was removed from the meeting from rejoining and creating a hostile environment.
- The Host can have attendees join muted or the host can Manage Participants - Mute All.