Video conferencing service, Zoom, is rolling out new features that will enable users to remove and report “Zoombombers,” or intruders who break into meetings to disrupt them.
The features which were launched on Monday are currently available on Zoom desktop clients for Mac, PC, Linux, and mobile apps. Users are required to download the latest version of Zoom to access them.
According to Zoom, the new security enhancements are in three parts which include:
Suspend Participant Activities
Under the Security icon, hosts and co-hosts now have the option to temporarily pause their meeting and remove a disruptive participant. By clicking “Suspend Participant Activities,” all video, audio, in-meeting chat, annotation, screen sharing, and recording during that time will stop, and Breakout Rooms will end.
The hosts or co-host will be asked if they would like to report a user from their meeting, share any details, and optionally include a screenshot. Once they click “Submit,” the reported user will be removed from their meeting, and Zoom’s Trust & Safety team will be notified. Hosts and co-hosts may resume their meeting by individually re-enabling the features they’d like to use. Zoom will also send them an email after the meeting to gather more information.
The Suspend Participant Activities feature is enabled by default for all free and paid Zoom users.
Report by Participants
Hosts and co-hosts can already report users from the Security icon, but now meeting participants can also report a disruptive user directly from the Zoom client by clicking the top-left Security badge.
Account owners and admins can enable reporting capabilities for non-hosts in their web settings.
Both of these new features are available on the Zoom desktop clients for Mac, PC, and Linux, and our mobile apps, with support for the web client and VDI to come later this year.
At-Risk Meeting Notifier
This fall, Zoom deployed an At-Risk Meeting Notifier to scan public social media posts and other websites for publicly shared Zoom Meeting links. When the tool detects a meeting that looks to be at high risk of being disrupted, it automatically alerts the account owner by email and provides advice on what to do. These steps could include deleting the vulnerable meeting and creating a new one with a new meeting ID, enabling security settings, or using another Zoom solution, like Zoom Video Webinars or OnZoom.
If you do get an email, it’s critical to take action or risk having your meeting disrupted.
As a reminder – one of the best ways to keep your Zoom meeting secure is to never share your meeting ID or passcode on any public forum, including social media.
The number of Zoom app users surged massively at the start of the pandemic as more people began working from home and using the platform for meetings, classes, and virtual hangouts.
During that period, a lot of security and privacy issues were raised and the company was scrutinized. The company has since responded with enhanced security measures put in place as it has rolled out features like potential privacy and security issues end-to-end encryption for all users, and expanded two-factor authentication for desktop and mobile.
