Limiting Access and Reducing Disruptive Behavior in Zoom

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Overview

Protect your virtual interactions and minimize disruption, intentional or unintentional, to your Zoom meetings and online classes by managing access and features to ensure a positive and productive teaching, learning, and working environment.

Zoom has published a resource with several recommendations.

The instructions below were created on the Zoom desktop app for MacOS. Other platforms and devices will vary slightly.

Recommended access settings for all MIT Zoom meetings

To reduce disruption to your Zoom sessions from those who are not the intended invitees, MIT strongly recommends the following guidelines for all MIT Zoom meeting hosts:

• For sessions that are part of our remote teaching effort, we strongly urge allowing only Touchstone-authenticated participants.
• For uses other than remote teaching, if non-MIT attendees are invited, we strongly recommend requiring a meeting passcode or inviting the non-MIT attendee using an Authentication Exemption.

Require a passcode

Require a passcode to enter the room that you communicate only to attendees. This option is set during meeting scheduling.

1. Start Zoom
2. Click the Schedule button. 
3. Under Meeting Options select Require meeting passcode
4. Specify a strong passcode
   
   
   
   
5. Be sure to click Schedule to save your settings and schedule your meeting.
   Result: Only users who have the passcode will be able to join your meeting. Be sure to let your participants know the passcode far enough in advance of the meeting they will be able to attend.

Enable the Waiting Room Feature

The Waiting Room lets the host to control which participants join the meeting. Attendees stay in the virtual waiting room until the host admits them to the room. Undesired attendees can be left in the waiting room indefinitely.

It can be difficult to determine who participants are if they join as a guest, call in, or have an unexpected Zoom account name. Encourage MIT attendees to authenticate to their MIT Zoom account using Touchstone Authentication so you know who they are when they appear in the waiting room. You can also require this (see below).

1. Start Zoom
2. Click the Schedule button. 
3. Open the Advanced Options at the bottom-left.
   
   
   
   
4. Enable the "Waiting Room" option at the bottom.
   
   
   
   
5. Be sure to click Schedule to schedule your meeting.
   Result: Your meeting is scheduled, and your participants will have to wait to be allowed into the meeting by the host. For instructions on using host controls for waiting rooms, see Using a Waiting Room with Zoom Rooms.

You can also set up your account to always enable the waiting room for meetings you host. See: Setting up Your Zoom Personal Room.

Touchstone authentication

Only Touchstone-authenticated participants can join your room. Participants without an MIT Touchstone account cannot join your meeting unless added to an exceptions list.

Schedule a meeting requiring Touchstone authentication:

1. Start Zoom
2. Click the Schedule button. 
3. Open the Advanced Options at the bottom-left.
   
   
   
   
4. Enable the "Only Authenticated Users can Join" option at the bottom.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Schedule.

Adding Authentication Exceptions:

This feature is only available when scheduling or editing meetings via the Zoom web portal. This feature is not available when using your personal meeting ID for the meeting.

1. Login to the MIT Zoom web portal at https://mit.zoom.com
2. Click on the Schedule a meeting button for a new meeting or Edit an exception to an existing meeting.
   
   
   
   
3. If a new meeting, enter your meeting details as usual.
4. Scroll down to the Security settings and check "Require authentication to join"
   Result: The "Authentication Exception" option appears below.
   
   
   
   
5. Next to "Authentication Exception, click Add
   Result: The "Authentication Exception" window appears.
6. Click Add Participant and enter the name and email address of the non-MIT account holding invitee as many times as needed to include all non-MIT attendees for this meeting.
7. Click Save
   Result: The "Authentication Exception" window closes and you see a list of the invitees you added under "Authentication Exception".
8. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Save to save your changes or to create your meeting.
   Result: Your non-MIT invitees are sent an email with a special link that will allow them to join the zoom meeting without MIT Touchstone Authentication.
   

   Any user who has the special link from the email can join the Zoom meeting without authenticating via MIT Touchstone. Posting the link publicly, sending it to a large email list, or sharing it in any other way may result in undesired participants Zoom bombing or otherwise disrupting your meeting.

   
   
   
   

Manage Features to Prevent Disruption

Manage Screen Sharing Permission to Prevent "Zoom Bombing"

Pranksters or a participant with fumble fingers may start screen sharing disrupting a zoom meeting. To prevent this, you can set it such that only the host can use screen sharing functionality in the meeting.

As host of an ongoing meeting:

1. Click the Security button.
   
   
   
   
2. In the "Allow Participants to" section, deselect the "Share Screen"
3. Close the window.
   Result: Only the host of the meeting will be able to share their screen.

Mute Participants

To avoid having voices speak at inappropriate times, follow these steps once you have started the meeting:

1. Select the Manage Participants button in the Zoom toolbar
2. At the bottom of the Participants window, select More
   * Choose Mute Participants on Entry
   * Deselect Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves
3. Encourage participants to use the Raise Hand feature to indicate when they would like to speak
   You will see a raised hand next to the person’s name in the Participants window. Verbally call on them and manually unmute them

Disable Annotation

If you have the Annotation feature enabled in your account settings, attendees can annotate on your shared screen. To check your settings:

1. Log in to mit.zoom.us
2. Choose Settings
3. Choose In-Meeting Basic
4. Scroll to Annotation. If this is set to enabled, participants can annotate on your screen.

If you wish, you may deactivate this feature while you are sharing your screen.

1. Share your screen
2. Click More in the Screen Share controls
3. Select Disable Participants Annotation

Remove a Disruptive Participant

When all else fails, the host can eject a disruptive participant from their meeting.

1. If the Participants panel is not visible, click “Manage Participants” at the bottom of the Zoom window.
   
   
   
   
2. Next to the participant you want to remove, click “More”.
3. From the list that appears, click “Remove”.
   
   
   
   

Result: The participant is ejected from the meeting.

Consider Locking the meeting to prevent the person from re-entering. Note that doing so will also prevent others from entering.

1. Select the Manage Participants button
2. In the Participants window go to the bottom and select More
3. Choose Lock Meeting

See Also

• Setting up Your Zoom Personal Room
• Frequently Asked Questions about Zoom Security
• [archive:Zoom Landing Page - OLD]