As a result of COVID-19 and social distancing, Zoom has experienced an increase of daily users from around 10 million to over 200 million.  With that level of explosive growth, it’s no surprise that they have received scrutiny from security experts as cybercriminals have quickly learned to exploit their program.  Use these tips to help ensure that you provide a safe environment for your team and clients when you host meetings.

First off, know that what happens in Zoom, doesn’t necessarily stay in Zoom

Zoom’s encryption practices have been brought into the spotlight as of recent.  Many telecom services offer true ‘end to end’ encryption.  This means that there is a secure connection that ensures your data Is unreadable by all the companies, providers, etc. between you and your recipient.

Zoom has used the phrasing ‘end to end’ encryption but discoveries have found that Zoom itself can access your video and audio feeds.

What does that mean for you?

Don’t say or show anything you wouldn’t want to be repeated.  This includes Personally Identifiable Information (PII) as well as Protected Health Information (PHI)

Create Private Meetings

• All Zoom users receive a personal Meeting ID that is always assigned to your account. By generating a random Meeting ID for every meeting, you lower the risk of someone unexpectedly dropping into your meeting, especially if you are advertising the meeting publicly

Use Passwords to Protect Your Meetings

• By keeping your meeting password protected, you add a layer of protection to keep people from ‘Zoom Bombing’ your meeting. 

Use Waiting Rooms

• By enabling waiting rooms as the host, you have the ability to confirm the identity of every user before allowing them into the meeting.

 Manage your Participants

• As the host, you have the ability to manage your participants, which means controlling who can share their screen as well as who can and cannot speak.

To ensure you have the technological resources and business processes in place to deal with the quickly changing work environment, reach out to us at covidtech@mcmcpa.com and a member of our COVID-19 Solutions Group will be in touch.