Important Zoom Resources
Zoom Best Practices
The Chief Information Officers of the University of California are very aware and concerned that Zoom is experiencing security and privacy issues. Our UC IT security and privacy experts are closely monitoring these issues and Zoom’s responses.
Zoom has been quick to respond to these issues, including the timely release of security patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. UC locations also have issued guidance for their users, which is found below. Such guidance will be revised as necessary, based on any new findings.
In addition, UC has a system-wide agreement in place with Zoom, which includes the UC Data Security Appendix and a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. The terms of this agreement address UC’s needs and provide greater security and privacy protections than Zoom’s standard agreement terms.
Privacy and security are a joint responsibility of both Zoom and our UC communities. There are a few keys steps all of us can take to best ensure the privacy and security of our Zoom interactions:
- All Zoom users should install client software updates as soon as they are available.
- Zoom meeting hosts should set their accounts to provide the highest protection for the privacy of all meeting participants in accordance with their location’s published guidance. See UC ANR guidance below.
- All Zoom users should periodically check their location’s published guidance for updates.
In sum, Zoom has been responsive to the security and privacy concerns and, while it is important for our IT security and privacy experts to monitor the situation, we believe that at present Zoom continues to be an appropriate option for on-line learning and remote work.
[Updated 9 April 2020]
Zoom meeting privacy options:
Zoom offers lots of options to keep your meetings secure and to prevent unwanted guests from interrupting your meetings. Of course, you’ll need to balance usability and the security controls you add.
Zoom-bombing is the term for when individuals "gate-crash" Zoom meetings. These uninvited guests share their screens to bombard real attendees with disturbing pornographic and/or violent imagery or use audio to verbally insult or harass other guests. Most of these are perpetrated via publicly available Zoom links. Here are ways to protect you and your guests.
For the most part, the most effective ways of keeping interlopers out of your meeting:
- Don’t publish a public link to your event on the web or social media;
- Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host events. Your PMI is essentially one continuous meeting and people can pop in and out all the time. Learn about meeting IDs and how to generate a random meeting ID by using Zoom’s “schedule” feature;
- Require participants to enter a password to enter the meeting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360033559832-Meeting-and-WebinarPasswords-.
Manage participants
- Use the Waiting Room to keep unwanted guests out. As the meeting organizer, you’ll have to admit people to the meeting as they attempt to join.
- Restrict screen sharing: using the host controls at the bottom, click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options. Under “Who can share?” choose “Only Host” and close the window. You can also lock the Screen Share by default for all your meetings in your web settings.
- Remove unwanted or disruptive participants: From that Participants menu, mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that to kick someone out of the meeting.
- Do not allow removed participants to rejoin: By default, when you do remove someone, they can’t rejoin the meeting.
- Put ‘em on hold: You can put everyone else on hold, and the attendees’ video and audio connections will be disabled momentarily. Click on someone’s video thumbnail and select Start Attendee On Hold to activate this feature. Click Take Off Hold in the Participants list when you’re ready to have them back.
- Disable video: Hosts can turn someone’s video off. This will allow hosts to block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate gestures on video or for that time your friend’s inside pocket is the star of the show.
- Mute participants: Hosts can mute/unmute individual participants or all of them at once. Hosts can block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate noise from other participants. You can also enable Mute Upon Entry in your settings to keep the clamor at bay in large meetings.
Some more UC ANR resources for a secure and private remote working experience: Guidance for Telecommuters, Webinars, Zoom training resources.
Zoom Webinars
Want to give a great webinar? Using the technology well is just part of giving a good presentation. See tips below to help you better engage your audience - so they pay attention, learn (and are so engrossed they forget to check their email…!).
- Getting ready
- Present as a team
- System & setting elements
- On the day - just before starting
- During the presentation
- Post webinar
These tips as a handout Fact sheet (UC ANR pdf)
Zoom Basics
Zoom video, phone, and web conferencing is here at UC ANR. Please use this website to search for hardware you may need for Zoom.
If you have a UC ANR portal account and a @ucanr.edu email address, logging in is simple. Go to https://ucanr.edu/portal/ and find the Zoom login link under “Conferencing”, or simply go to https://ucanr.zoom.us/ and login.
Getting started with Zoom
1. Sign in to the Zoom website with your ANR portal account.
2. Download Zoom from here and log in with these instructions.
3. Make sure you have the proper equipment. If you're not sure, check out this page.
4. Read through our Zoom training materials here.
5. More information can be found at Zoom's website.
6. Contact IT if you need help
530-750-1212
E-mail: help@ucanr.edu