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Protecting Your Meetings & Preventing Unwanted Attendees
Ensuring a secure meeting environment requires a balance between accessibility and protection. While some security measures must be established during the setup phase, others require active management by the host during the session.
Essential Pre-Meeting Settings
Security starts before the first participant joins. Use these settings when scheduling your meeting:
- Avoid Personal Meeting IDs (PMI): Your PMI is a permanent link. Use a randomly generated Meeting ID for every session to ensure that leaked links don't compromise future meetings.
- Enable the Waiting Room: This acts as a digital lobby, allowing the host to vet participants before granting entry.
- Require a Passcode: Essential for preventing "war dialing" (bots guessing IDs). Even if embedded in the link, it adds a necessary layer of protection.
- Require Authentication: Select "Only authenticated users can join" to ensure participants are signed into a verified Zoom account or your specific company domain.
During the Meeting: Host Controls
Once your meeting is live, click the Security or Host Tools icon on your toolbar to access these real-time defenses:
- Lock Meeting: Lock the meeting once all expected guests have arrived to prevent any new entries.
- Restrict Screen Sharing: Set to "Only Host" to prevent unauthorized content from being displayed.
- Mute Controls: Disable "Allow Participants to Unmute" in large groups to maintain audio control.
- Disable Annotation: Prevent participants from drawing over shared screens.
The "Emergency Brake"
If an intruder enters and becomes disruptive, use these tools immediately:
- Suspend Participant Activities: Found under Security Tools, this instantly freezes the meeting—muting everyone, stopping video/sharing, and locking the doors so you can identify the threat.
- Remove and Report: In the Participants panel, select "More" > "Remove" on the intruder. Use the "Report" button to notify Zoom's Trust & Safety team.
General Best Practices
- Keep Software Current: Regularly update your Zoom client to the latest available version to ensure you have access to the most recent security patches and features.
- Private Distribution: Never post meeting links on public social media. For public-facing events, utilize Zoom Webinars for a view-only experience