How to avoid Zoom-bombing

“Zoom-bombing” is a disruptive behavior by participants in a Zoom session. This type of disruption, commonly called “trolling” in social media lingo, is designed to throw the conversation off-topic. Zoom-bombers may be invited participants or un-invited intruders.

Zoom-bombing includes activities such as screen-sharing an inappropriate or malicious message or scene designed to disrupt and sometimes enrage the class or meeting participants. Learn more in this article from Inside Higher Ed .

Tips for avoiding Zoom-bombing

As more people are relying on Zoom, Zoom-bombing behavior has increased. Here is a very . 

In short, there are two easy good practices to mitigate this behavior:

  1. Managing the screen sharing feature in your Zoom session.
  2. Ensuring that your Zoom sessions are not open to the public at large by generating a unique meeting ID.

The first good practice is to prohibit open access to the screen sharing feature during your meeting, ŮÓźϼ¯ has adjusted the default sharing setting to “Host Only.” To enable screen sharing by default, change the setting  in your ŮÓźϼ¯ Zoom account profile:

  • Log into your Zoom account at 
  • Click the “Settings” tab on the left side of the screen
  • Search for “Screen Sharing”
  • Under “Who can share?” change the setting from “Host Only” to “All Participants” (see screenshot below)
  • Save your changes

screen shot of how to screen share

The second good practice is when hosting a public meeting is to not use your personal Zoom Meeting ID. Instead, create a separate meeting link for any event you share publicly.  In the Schedule a Meeting area of the Zoom interface, choose Generate Automatically to create a unique meeting ID.

Screen shot of how to generate a meeting ID in Zoom

Questions about Zoom good practices? As always, your local service desk is here to help!

Fairbanks
Phone: 450-8300 
Toll-free: 800-478-8226
helpdesk@alaska.edu