How to Prevent Zoom Bombing

No one likes having their meeting interrupted by strangers during your own lecture. Zoom is well aware this has become a major issue today. This guide provides a list of steps that are offered to those of you who may have experienced zoom bombing. We will highlight some of the security features offered by zoom.

Note that this tutorial is meant to be followed for users that have a Pro account.

With the popularity of zoom increasing, updates have been trying to address the security issues that have been occurring fairly recent. Make sure to have the latest update of the Zoom application before beginning. You can always check for updates in your navigation drawer. In some cases, Zoom will automatically ask you to update your application.

Go to the Meetings tab and click Schedule Meeting. Select the appropriate date and time of your session and lesson duration. Note, zoom works for intervals of 15 minutes so be sure to keep this in mind. Make sure you’ve chosen the correct time zone as well.

Random ID's are generated by selecting the 'Generate Automatically' button. Random ID's lower the chance of zoom bombing so refrain from using a personal ID.

Any time a personal ID becomes public, they are susceptible to being zoom bombed multiple times. A personal ID could work well for office hours or any event that occurs frequently throughout the semester. Since this is a never-expiring link, anyone with a hold of it could easily spam your call at any point.

Add a Password to the meeting by checking the box right under meeting id's. Users are only able to join if they include submit the correct password prompted by Zoom.

Check 'Enable Waiting Room' to add the waiting room feature. This feature is way for hosts to manually allow entry into the Zoom meetings. This is a great way to track attendance and cross reference who is a part of the class. You have the ability to confirm everyone at the same time and do it one at a time. Even as the meeting starts, you can continue to have a waiting room and prevent anyone from entering your call in the middle of the meeting. All students who are in the waiting room are located under the "Manage Participants" tab in your zoom call.

As seen in the above image, check mark 'Only authenticated users can join'. This feature highlights a couple of security verification's. You may invite students based on their email. Inform them that they must sign into Zoom using the original email that was sent to them so they may access the meeting. This further excludes anyone who may not have been invited.

Click on 'Security' and uncheck 'Share Screen' to disable screen sharing for others except the host. You might want to customize your screen sharing options. To do so, click on the arrow next to 'Share Screen' and select 'Advance Sharing Options'. To prevent others from interrupting your planned lecture, ensure that screen share is something that only you as the host can do. These are present features, but make sure they are in place before you allow people to enter the room.

If you plan on using audio to communicate, consider disabling chat or customizing it such that students may only chat with you. Click on the wheel next to the chat window and check mark 'No one' to disable chat.

If in the case you are unable to prevent a Zoom Bomber from attending your session, you have the ability of removing someone from the call. Go to the Participants panel, click on the persons name, and click "Remove". These participants will not be allowed to rejoin the meeting.

Good luck during lecture!