The Rise of Zoom
Since the onset and continuing rise in the number of SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 cases across the globe (and subsequent increase in the number of related fatalities) more and more business owners, entrepreneurs, employees, and others are discovering (many for the first time) the need for an alternative to face-to-face meetings.
This void led many to investigate video conferencing or video chat services as a way to conduct one-on-one meetings. Since Skype had its share of problems (such as poor design, sound quality, calls dropping, system requirements, subscription requirements, poor video quality, and other technical glitches, Cisco was too expensive and difficult for most small business owners or individuals to use on a regular basis, and there really weren’t that many easy-to-use alternatives, Zoom was able to quickly capitalize on that void with their high-quality video service. The issue with Zoom wasn’t and isn’t so much the quality of the calls or even the ease of use, so much as the security of the calls (or lack thereof), potential for censorship, lack of transparency, and ease with which others could violate the security and privacy of calls (called “Zoombombing“) and in some cases be extremely disruptive, racist, post violent or hate-speech content, or even traumatize users with pornographic or otherwise inappropriate messaging.
“Zoombombing” has become so prevalent now there are school boards and governments as well as government agencies banning its use.
Meanwhile there are actually forums promoting the practice of Zoombombing while business owners publicly post Zoom video conference links along with passwords on their company websites thinking that they’re making video communication “dummy proof” when what they’re actually doing is making their video communications easier to disrupt.
So what can you do if you want to use modern, secure video conferencing but avoid being (what is essentially) harassed by out-of-control teenagers, bigots, sexists, or other dark beings with malicious intent in their minds?
Stopping the Zoombombing
Well, first of all, it’s important to use what’s called end-to-end encryption if at all possible. This is a form of encryption in which only the two parties involved in a call know each others links, passwords, and can partake in the call. At one point Zoom promised to provide free end-to-end encryption for all calls, then not all calls, then potentially all calls again.
Another step is to use passwords for meetings whenever possible. If you can’t use passwords, require that participants show their faces before signing in to video conferences by placing their lovely little mugs up to the webcam they (should) be using to chat with you in the first place before joinging a call. Letting people use cartoon character avators to represent who they may or may not be, still photos, not only increases the feeling in users that the call is not safe for them to speak openly, but it also increases the risk that the person(s) involved aren’t who they say they are.
If you use Zoom often or know you will have to use it, update the app or check for updates regularly, as there may be security patches that could be important to its use.
Another important option toward having more secure Zoom meeting is to use a unique ID for meetings. This is when you’re issued a different website address (also called a URL) for every meeting. Setting this up can be a little time-consuming, going through all the settings and sub-settings, but if you learn how to do it, this step can prevent Zoombombing in and of itself.
Disabling private chat and removing the option to provide file downloads also eliminates or cuts back on the possiblity of people clicking on links or downloading malicious software.
Enable the waiting room “lobby” function and use it. This lets you find out who wants to join your meeting, identify them, and then decide who can gain access and who shouldn’t be allowed to butt in.
Summing Up
And finally, if you are unfortunate to experience Zoombombing, or the equivalent thereof, and don’t want to spend a few hours tinkering with Zoom’s settings and sub-settings and menus within menus, simply switch to a new video conferencing platform or site or start implimenting a combination of procedures such as changing website address (URL), requiring faces shown in order to access a room, using passwords, making participatnts pay to participate in a video conference, making participants wait to join and screen each one individually before they’re allowed to leave the “lobby” or wating portion, or switching.
Although Zoom is the “flavor” of the time due to its ease of use and timing, there are plenty of other video conferencing fish in the business sea.
Some of these alternatives require participants identify themselves by name before joining, others change links everytime you conduct a meeting and require identification of participants, and many don’t require downloads either.