ITS Offers Advice to Avoid 'Zoombombing'
04/02/2020
As more and more organizations move to Zoom for virtual meetings and classes, a new form of cyber trolling has emerged called “Zoombombing.”
Zoombombing is when an uninvited participant uses Zoom’s screensharing feature to interrupt and disrupt meetings and classes, usually with inappropriate content.
SLU's Information Technology Services (ITS) has tips for avoiding these unwanted disruptions in remote learning classes.
Defeat the Cyber Trolls
To combat this, ITS have worked with Zoom to implement the following security measures within the platform for SLU:
- The “Join before host” feature has been disabled by default to prevent participants from entering your Zoom session before you arrive.
- Screen sharing has been restricted to “Host Only,” by default. As the host, you can grant permission to participants to share their screens. You can find a quick how-to guide on enabling screen sharing for participants on our Zoom page.
- We have also enabled a feature that prevents participants whom you removed from a Zoom session from reentering that session.
Additional steps you can take to help prevent disruption include:
- Enabling the Zoom Waiting Room. This feature allows the meeting host to control when a participant joins the meeting. You can find a quick how-to guide on using the Zoom Waiting Room feature on our Zoom page.
- Requiring participants to use a password. You can select “Require meeting password” when you schedule your meeting or class.
ITS also strongly recommends that you don’t post links to your Zoom meetings on social media or other public channels where trolls might find them. Instead, provide links directly to intended participants via email, calendar invitations, or your course site in Blackboard or Canvas.
For additional Zoom information, including Frequently Asked Questions, visit the Zoom page.
If you need assistance with Zoom, or for any other technical support questions, please call the IT Support Desk at 314-977-4000 or email us at ask@slu.edu.