What is Zoombombing?
A new form of trolling in which a participant uses Zoom’s screensharing feature to interrupt and disrupt meetings and classes.
How to Prevent Zoombombing
Zoom Meetings Set Password and Enable Waiting Room
Set Password and Enable Waiting Room
When scheduling a Zoom meeting, ensure that you set these meeting options:
- Select Require meeting password
- Input a password or accept the tandomly generated number from Blackboard
- Select Enable waiting room
- Select Record the meeting automatically
- Select In the cloud
Classroom Management Strategies
Waiting Room Message
(Any participant who does not login using their TCC Zoom credentials automatically will be placed in the Waiting Room and will be presented with this message.)
Waiting Room: Add Participants
You have the following options when participants are in the Waiting Room. Note: It is not recommended that you use the Admit all feature as this may admit participants that should not be in your class.
- Click Admit to allow a single participant into the meeting.
- Click Remove to remove a single participant from the Zoom meeting.
Waiting Room: Remove Participant from Class
- Click Manage Participants
- In the Participants panel, mouse over the person’s name and click More
- Click Remove
Lock Meeting
- When the Zoom meeting is locked, no additional participants are able to enter.
While in the meeting session, click Participants on the bottom of the Zoom window
- In the participants’ pop-up menu, select (a) More and (b) Lock Meeting
Screen Sharing When Creating/Editing a Zoom Meeting
While editing the meeting, scroll down to the Screen sharing options and make the following selections.
- Screen sharing: Activate
- Who can share?: Host Only (With this selection you will be able to manually activate screen sharing for participants in a live Zoom call.)
- Disable desktop/screen share for users: If you need to allow screen sharing during your Zoom meeting, you can change settings in the live meeting to allow screen sharing.
- Annotation: Enable but following these guidelines:
- This feature can be used by Zoombombers to interrupt a meeting.
- Ensure that you use Waiting Rooms, allow participants into a meeting one-by-one, and be familiar with the steps to “Remove” a participant if needed.
- Annotation cannot be activated in a live meeting if it is disabled in Settings
- Enable and select auto save. Follow these guidelines.
- This feature can be used by Zoombombers to interrupt a meeting.
- Ensure that you use Waiting Rooms, allow participants into a meeting one-by-one, and be familiar with the steps to “Remove” a participant if needed.
- Whiteboard cannot be activated in a live meeting if it is disabled in Settings
- Disable: Disable
Enable Screen Share for Participants already in a Zoom Meeting
Follow the steps to allow participants to share their screen in a Zoom meeting when your default setting for participant screen sharing is disabled.
- Start you Zoom meeting in the Zoom app.
- Allow authorized participants into the meeting from the waiting room.
- Place your mouse in the Zoom meeting window. A bar will appear.
- Next to , click arrow -> Advanced Sharing Options...
- On the pop-up screen, perform the following:
- Select One participant can share at a time
- Select All Participants
- Select Only Host
- Click the big X
- Your participants will now be able to share your screens. As the host, you will be the only participant in the meeting who can start sharing while another person is sharing.
Disable Chat in a Zoom Meeting
Follow the instructions to disable chat in a zoom meeting.
- In the Zoom meeting window, click Chat.
- In the Chat panel, click the three dots in the lower right corner.
- In the pop-up window, click No One to prevent participants from chatting in the meeting.
See this information from Zoom for more Zoom security tips and tricks.