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Zoom Quick Start Guide

Video conferencing software to support online learning and remote work.

What is Zoombombing?

Zoombombing is when an unwanted participant joins your meeting and posts inappropriate or offensive content.  

Zoombombing ranges from offensive chat comments to taking over your screen to display inappropriate videos.

Read: When Video Conferencing Goes Wrong (New York Times)

#1: Never Share Meeting Details Publicly

Never publicly share a Meeting ID or meeting password using social media.  Share in Moodle, by email, or another password protected platform.

Reserve your Personal Meeting ID for highly trusted groups and always require a password.  Think of your Personal Meeting ID like your phone number - once it is known, it can be shared by anyone.

#2: Use a Meeting Password

Choose to require a password by default for all meeting types.  Zoom will generate a password that can be shared with your participants.  There are three ways to do this:

  • Require a password when scheduling new meetings
  • Require a password for Instant Meetings
  • Require a password for Personal Meeting ID

View detailed instructions for setting password defaults

As an additional deterrent, you can choose to disable the setting called "Embed password in meeting link for one-click join". Meeting ID and password can then be communicated separately.  

#3: Manage Your Participants

The meeting host can manage who enters a meeting and what they can do while in the meeting.

Disable Join Before Host. This will prevent participants (particularly unwanted ones!) to enter your meeting before you are there to moderate.

Enable Waiting Room. This allows you to be the gatekeeper for all participants.

Disable Participant Annotation.  This can be turned on/off in the meeting; turning it off by default prevents unwanted graffiti. 

Learn more about Managing Participants.  You can eject an unwanted visitor, lock your meeting after all participants have arrived, or prevent participants from sharing their screens.

 

Security Update

In a Zoom Emergency

Click End Meeting.  If you find yourself with an unwanted visitor or any offensive content, you can always pull the plug.  Start a new meeting and send your participants an invitation to join.