Zoom Bombing/Crashing

Overview

Zoom Bombing/Crashing is when people join publicly-posted meetings solely to disrupt them by sharing inappropriate content or doing inappropriate things.

SPU faculty, staff and students use Zoom for scheduled as well as impromptu meetings; this article lists best practices for protecting your meetings from Zoom crashers.

Best Practices

Secure your sharing:

Posting the meeting link to a public space (ex: Facebook, Twitter, public website) may open you to unwanted attendees crashing your meeting.
Instead - share your meeting link only through secure channels (ex: Canvas, SPU email/calendar invites).
- Faculty using Canvas can create, join, and delete Zoom Meetings all within their Canvas Course. Click here for further details and instructions.

Password protect your meeting(s):

If you must post or share the link via a non-secure, public channel - require a password to enter your meeting and distribute the password to your attendees/students via secure channels (Slate, Canvas, SPU email).

Consider security settings when planning your meeting(s):

Turn Virtual Backgrounds Off or On for your account. In meetings you Host, this feature enables you and meeting attendees to change your background to a selected image or photograph. Here are instructions on how to do so.
- SPU offers a variety of university-approved and branded virtual backgrounds. View and download them here.
When scheduling your meeting, click "Advanced Options" to expand meeting settings such as:
- Enable Waiting Room
- Only authenticated users can join

Be aware of options available in case of a crasher:

There are a number of controls a Zoom Host has to manage attendees before and during the meeting:
- In-meeting security options
- Managing participants in a meeting
- For example: A host can remove an unwanted guest who then cannot re-join the meeting. Hosts can also "lock" their meetings once all expected attendees are present.
For further tips and features - click here for a Zoom article detailing tools instructors can use to secure their classrooms.
You can test out these settings with a colleague to familiarize yourself with the controls.

Screen Sharing Default Setting

Effective March 26, 2020, the screen sharing settings within your Zoom account have been automatically set to “Only Host.” This setting gives hosts sole permission to share content within their meetings by default.

If you’d like to give participants screen sharing permission when hosting, simply click the arrow to the right of the Share Screen icon, select Advanced Sharing Options and select All Participants (demonstrated below).

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