Greetings HVCC community,
I want to take a few minutes to highlight some security changes we have made to the Zoom platform, and how they’ll impact you. We all now depend on Zoom for daily operations as well as social connections with one another.
Zoom provides a wealth of options to secure your meetings, but by default, they are mostly disabled. This default behavior has led to a flood of headlines about unwanted guests in meetings who cause havoc (nicknamed Zoombombing). This was all completely avoidable.
We have to draw the line between security and ease of use. Gains on one side of the line naturally mean losses on the other. Today we are making a couple of changes that will re-draw that line to improve your security. Those changes will impact how your students and guests join your meetings.
Why are you doing this?
Imagine having a sensitive meeting or hosting a private classroom in a parking lot. As long as nobody happens to walk by, you won’t be bothered by unwanted guests. But if someone does, there is very little you could do to stop them from crashing your meeting and disrupting it in offensive ways. For safety, most of us would probably opt to move our meeting inside, where we have walls and doors we can close. This is why we are making these changes. We want the default option to be secure, and let you choose when you want to relax the security.
What are the changes
- The ‘Waiting room’ will be turned ON by default
Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room feature is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them. It’s almost like the velvet rope outside a nightclub, with you as the bouncer carefully monitoring who gets let in. You will have complete control over who is allowed and who is blocked. You only admit entry to the people you know. - “Only Authenticated HVCC users can join” will be ON by default
This option will allow you to restrict your meeting to only people authenticated with hvcc.edu email addresses. If outside people attempt to join your session, they will be presented with an error message stating that they need to sign in with their HVCC email. This feature will eliminate people from your meetings who are not associated with HVCC. - “Only Authenticated HVCC users can view recording” will be ON by default
When you record a session in Zoom, you can restrict who can look at the recordings. This option will allow you to restrict your recording to only people authenticated with hvcc.edu email addresses. If outside people attempt to watch, they will be presented with an error message stating that they need to sign in with their HVCC email. This feature will ensure that only valid HVCC members are able to view your recordings.
Is this extra security required?
What if I want to meet with people outside of HVCC?
These new controls are not required, but are the new default behavior when scheduling meetings. You can disable these changes by unchecking the check boxes when you set up your meetings. We still want you to have the flexibility of hosting your meeting “in the parking lot” if you so desire, but you will have to choose to do this. The default options will be to host your meeting in the secure space. The check boxes for both of these options can be found under the advanced options, as shown below. Simply uncheck the box if you do not wish to secure your meeting in this way.
Will my existing scheduled meetings have these controls?
No. If you have meetings already scheduled, they will retain whatever settings you chose at the time. However, you can easily edit those scheduled meetings to include these options.
Are there other things I can do to secure my meeting?
Absolutely! Zoom is capable of compliance with the most stringent security requirements for use in government and healthcare settings. It is just a matter of how many of the security controls do you want and need? Here are a few more options you can use.
- Enable Registration – This option will require students and attendees to pre-register and be approved by the host in advance of the meeting. This is a great way to secure your session ahead of time, but adds another verification step the first time. Students would not have to register for each meeting, just the first in the series.
- Use the new Security button – If you are using the latest version (4.6.10), you should now see a SECURITY button in your meeting controls. This option puts many security tools at your fingertips so you can change the security level of your meeting while it is in progress. Make sure you download the latest version If you need assistance, reach out to techsupport@hvcc.edu.
- Check out this Campus Chronicle Post that highlights numerous other controls that you can use to manage your meeting and your participants.
The security of your virtual classroom is as important to us as the security of your physical classroom. I appreciate your understanding, and ITS stands ready to provide assistance.
If you would like a training session or need some support, please contact techsupport@hvcc.edu or (518) 629-7364
Be safe and best regards,
Jon
Jonathan R. Brennan
Chief Information Officer
j.brennan@hvcc.edu
Published: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:10:04 +0000 by j.brennan