Securing a Zoom Meeting

There are a few things you can do to keep unwanted guests from crashing your Zoom meetings and virtual classrooms:

Use the Latest Version of Zoom

First, it's important to keep your Zoom client up-to-date. Updates are pushed to ODU-managed computers, but you should check for updates on your personal computers and devices.

• See Updating your Zoom Client for more information.

Note: Zoom has enabled its highest level of encryption system-wide, and only those with version 5.0 or later will be able to log in to Zoom meetings. If you try to enter a meeting using an older version of Zoom, you'll be prompted to upgrade before entering.

Default Meeting Settings

As of April 6, all ODU Zoom accounts will have the following default settings in order to prevent unwelcome Zoom guests:

Authenticated users only

Only authenticated Zoom users (with any type of Zoom account, ODU or otherwise) will be allowed to join meetings. You have the option to go even further by allowing only ODU users to join your meetings. All ODU faculty, staff and students can set up a Zoom account at odu.edu/zoom.

• Anyone who tries to join your meeting will be asked to sign in (if they aren't already).
• Authenticated ODU users will be able to enter meetings without waiting.
• Attendees who do not sign in with an ODU account will enter a waiting room and will need to be admitted by the host.
• Non-ODU users will have a Guest indicator next to their name in the participant list.

Meeting passwords

All meetings scheduled after April 6 will require a password. The password is automatically included in the meeting invitation sent from Zoom, from the Outlook plugin or from Canvas. No one will be allowed to enter the meeting if they have the link without the password.

• If you just share the meeting ID or share the link another way, you will also need to share the password.

Before a Meeting

Generate a unique meeting ID

Don't use your Personal Meeting ID for meetings. When you share your meeting link, anyone who has the link can join your meeting. Your personal meeting ID is essentially one continuous meeting that people can pop in and out of any time. Instead, when you schedule a new meeting, have Zoom generate a random meeting ID.

• Scheduling Meetings

Disable "Join before host"

1. Go to odu.zoom.us and sign in with your MIDAS ID and password.
2. Click Settings on the left side of the screen.
3. Scroll down to Join before host and make sure it is switched off.

Manage "Screen sharing"

Keep random attendees from taking control of the screen and sharing unwanted content with the group.

1. Go to odu.zoom.us and sign in with your MIDAS ID and password.
2. Click Settings on the left side of the screen.
3. Scroll down to Screen sharing. Under Who can share?, confirm that Host Only is selected. (Screen sharing settings should default to "Host Only," giving hosts sole permission to share content within their meetings.)

(If you need to allow participants to share their screens during a meeting, click the arrow next to Share Screen in the meeting control bar, and then Advanced Sharing Options to extend screen sharing privileges to all participants.)

Enable "Waiting rooms"

Attendees are placed in a waiting area until a host grants access to the meeting. This is especially useful when you hold public meetings.

1. Go to odu.zoom.us and sign in with your MIDAS ID and password.
2. Click Settings on the left side of the screen.
3. Scroll down, and turn on the Waiting room.
4. Choose whether you want all participants or just guests to be placed in the waiting room.
5. Optional: Customize the message that attendees see in the waiting room.

During a Meeting

You have several options for managing your participants while the meeting is going on. If you find you have a trouble-maker in your meting, you can try:

Remove participants

From that Participants menu, you can mouse over a participant's name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that to kick someone out of the meeting.

• Managing participants in a meeting

Mute participants

Hosts can mute/unmute individual participants or all of them at once. Hosts can block unwanted, distracting or inappropriate noise from other participants. You can also enable Mute Upon Entry in your settings to keep the noise down in large meetings.

• Mute All And Unmute All

Disable private chat

Zoom has in-meeting chat for everyone, or participants can message each other privately. Restrict participants' ability to chat amongst one another while your event is going on and cut back on distractions. This is really to prevent anyone from getting unwanted messages during the meeting.

• Controlling and Disabling In-Meeting Chat

Lock meetings

For private meetings, lock the meeting after it starts.

• Click Manage Participants in the meeting toolbar.
• At the bottom of the Participants window, click More, then Lock Meeting.

Note: Participants who may have inadvertently disconnected will not be able to re-enter.

Other best practices

• Do not post Zoom URLs in public spaces like social media. Share meeting links only with invited meeting attendees.
• When possible, schedule class meetings from the Canvas Zoom tool. Students can join the meeting from directly within Canvas - no need to send a link.

More information from Zoom

Zoom has many ways to help you keep your meetings on track. Learn more:

• Blog: How to Keep the Party Crashers from Crashing Your Zoom Event
• Video: Securing your Meetings & Virtual Classrooms
• A Message to Zoom Users (from Zoom CEO, April 1, 2020)

Zoom Security Questions