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Management Assistance Program

Zoom Security Tips

Soon after Zoom exploded into the mainstream for videoconferences during home sheltering, a large number of online pieces criticizing Zoom followed. Challenges included meetings being “Zoombombed” with disgusting content to a new automated Zoom meeting discovery tool dubbed “zWarDial,” which is used to locate unprotected meetings.

For Zoom meetings to be protected from outside interference they must be password protected. You already know how to handle passwords. They cannot be posted on public pages or even on private online groups that are easy for new members to join. You can also lock a meeting after all attendees have arrived so no one else can enter. In addition, if you store videos online outside of Zoom, make sure the location is secure and you rename the files something other than the Zoom default because the standardly-named files can be located by Google search if on an unprotected site.

It is possible to send one-to-one Chat messages within Zoom. But while those may appear private during the meeting, the Host of the meeting can view or share a transcript of all chat messages, including those that looked private. If you have a truly great snarky comment, use your phone to text it to your buddy.

Update: As Zoom’s usage soared from 10 million users a day to 200 million, it was rather surprising that high quality video continued. While many Zoom security challenges could be addressed by users tweaking their settings appropriately as noted above, the Zoom CEO’s weekend apology tour notes that what they were calling end-to-end encryption was not what most of us understood. See Bloomberg Zoom CEO Seeks Redemption as Trolls Invade Coronavirus Haven and Zoom’s strong end-to-end encryption not actually end-to-end

For Lunch or Later

Many lawyers will feel they have no choice but to use Zoom as clients demand it. Set it up correctly by reading Getting Started With Zoom — and Using It Securely: Some Advice from Attorney at Work by Sharon Nelson and John Simek.