With so many people now working remotely, video-conference meetings have become the lifeblood of the business world.
One of the most popular is Zoom, which has gone from around 10 million daily users in December to more than 200 million in March 2020.
Zoom is popular because it’s simple to use, making it possible for work colleagues to keep in touch, literally at the click of a few buttons.
But like any online platform, users have to be mindful of what steps they take to ensure their business meeting remains confidential.
Just like how you treat online banking, all users have to be careful what precautions and steps you take to protect your identify, data and also ensure sensitive information doesn’t get in the wrong hands.
Be careful with meeting access codes.
Every Zoom meeting is based around a nine-digit meeting ID. If that ID becomes public somehow, or trolls find it in a web search or guess it, they can pop into your meeting at will unless you have other security arrangements in place.
Try thinking of these access codes as your credit card details and you’ll be on the right track. You wouldn’t share your credit card details with the world, so you shouldn’t do the same with your Zoom meeting codes.
Remember, a public meeting link is public, so don’t share it with anyone you don’t trust.
The same goes for your personal meeting ID, which is essentially a personal phone number that people can use to “drop in” at any time. I would strongly advise you set up a password for participants to verify their entry before entering and even set up a waiting room where people sit until they are granted access to a meeting.
For when your meeting is underway.
Once your meeting is underway, there are a range of further steps you should take to protect your privacy. These include:
- Manage your screen sharing by ensuring you’re the only person in control of the meeting
- Manage participants by ensuring only signed-in participants can join the call
- We also recommend you set a two-factor authentication to remove unwanted or disruptive participants
- Disable video for participants and disable private chat.
Back to the online banking analogy, it pays to be safe and viligant about what private information you share publicly and what steps you take to protect yourself…and your confidential information.
We are always available to provide assistance with this and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
