How to Use Zoom Safely

Almost overnight, Zoom started playing a critical role in the social lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world. As a result of social distancing, Zoom became an invaluable tool to allow many to work remotely and stay in touch with friends and family. In addition to using Zoom to communicate for business use, many even began hosting virtual birthday parties and happy hours!

Because this transition happened so rapidly, and Zoom was not prepared for such a drastic increase in users, many security vulnerabilities surfaced. Scammers, nicknamed “zoombombers,” took advantage of these vulnerabilities to access private meetings and listen to conversations, which made Zoom the center of much controversy. Since then, Zoom has made improvements to the security of virtual meetings, and they have shared some tips for using the tool as safely as possible. Let’s walk through a few steps you can take to protect yourself when using Zoom.

Only share the meeting link and ID with participants

In many instances of scammers listening in on Zoom calls, the scammer gained access using the meeting link and ID. To prevent your meeting details ending up in the wrong hands, only share the link and ID in private messages and with intended participants only.

Password protect your meetings

While keeping your meeting link and ID private goes a long way in keeping uninvited participants out, it’s still possible for scammers to gain access to your meeting location. In case this happens, you should also password protect your meetings. When you set up a meeting, check “Require meeting password.” Then share the password with intended participants in a private and secure message.

Use the “waiting room” feature

To go one step further in preventing uninvited users from gaining access to your meeting, you can enable the “waiting room” feature. Once participants access the meeting using the link and password, they enter the “waiting room,” where the host can grant or deny access.

Make sure you’re using the latest Zoom application

Keeping meeting links and IDs private, using meeting passwords, and enabling the “waiting room” feature are all tips Zoom recently shared to keep users safe as the tool is experiencing unprecedented use, and they continue to share tips and update the application to fix security vulnerabilities. Make sure you are using the most updated version of Zoom to have the most up-to-date security features.

Beware of scammers and phishing

Email is the number one gateway into any workplace network. Scammers may take advantage of the fact people are receiving legitimate Zoom links frequently, and they may try to send you a malicious link via email that looks like a meeting invite. Only click on links from people you know, and even when you’re in a hurry, be sure to slow down and review links before clicking on them.

While Zoom has been around for many years, it has recently seen an unprecedented number of users, and for many of those users, remote work and virtual meeting tools are completely new. This leads to security vulnerabilities scammers are known to exploit. To ensure you’re using Zoom as safely as possible, follow these tips and always stay alert!