We all know how quickly distractions can interrupt and derail a Zoom meeting or webinar-style event. Whether it’s an attendee who forgets to mute their microphone, or an uninvited participant, there are several quick and easy steps you can take to ensure a smooth virtual gathering right from the start, such as enabling passcodes and waiting rooms, or requiring authentication.

In the last few months, the University has experienced a few incidents where outsiders were able to access and disrupt meetings. It is important for all of us to ensure our Zoom settings are configured to prevent unwanted attendees or content from disrupting the meetings we host—especially webinar-style events!

Visit the University’s Zoom service page on tech.rochester to review our Meeting Host Guide and learn about these simple-yet-important settings to manage participants using Zoom’s built-in participant and meeting controls, such as meeting passcodes or waiting rooms, along with quick steps to remedy interruptions in case they occur.

The Basics

We strongly recommend you implement these security measures for your next Zoom meeting.

When setting up a Zoom event:

• Set Meeting Passcodes: Protect your meetings with a passcode and only share it with intended participants. Avoid posting the passcode on public forums.
• Use Waiting Rooms: Enable the waiting room feature so you can control who joins the meeting. This allows you to admit participants individually or all at once.
• Enable “Only Authenticated Users Can Join”: Require participants to sign in with a registered Zoom account or their university credentials to join the meeting.
• Require Registration: For larger events, require attendees to register in advance. This helps you monitor who is planning to attend and can deter unwanted guests.
• Avoid Using Personal Meeting ID: Use a unique meeting ID for each event instead of your Personal Meeting ID to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
• Only Allow Participants from Within the United States: Enable the “Approve or block entry for users from specific countries/regions” setting to determine whether users from specific regions or countries can join meetings/webinars on your account by adding them to your Approved List or Blocked List.
• Limit Screen Sharing: Restrict screen sharing to the host or co-hosts only. This can be adjusted in the settings under “Who can share?”
• Disable File Transfer: Disable the file transfer option to prevent participants from sharing unsolicited files during the meeting.
• Turn Off Annotation: Disable the annotation feature to prevent participants from writing on shared screens.

When promoting or sharing a Zoom event:

• Zoom meetings that are not intended for the public should not be advertised on the public Web.

During your Zoom event:

• Lock the Meeting: Once all expected participants have joined, lock the meeting to prevent others from joining. This can be done from the “Participants” menu.
• Manage Participants: Use the “Manage Participants” option to mute participants, disable video, or remove disruptive attendees.