The SVRI experienced this first-hand. Our recent webinar “Advancing research on violence against women – Partnering for impact and scale” was ‘zoom bombed’. The meeting was hacked with racially charged and sexually explicit material.

To ensure that security is ramped up for future events and to create awareness around this for those planning Zoom (and other online conferencing) webinars, we have compiled a list of security tips from resources shared with the SVRI by our wonderful and supportive colleagues and donors. We do this recognising that increased security will limit access to our events. This is problematic given that our work is meant to be about open, inclusive, accessible discussion, however this violence / violation is preventing us from being able to do that. We are taking these steps first and foremost to ensure the safety of our participants.

Steps to take before your meeting starts:

• Get the latest update: Ensure that your Zoom app and your mobile device has been updated with the most recent security settings.
• Assign co-host/s: Ensure that there is more than one co-host to monitor the space and manage participants entering the room.
• Assign a per-meeting ID: Never use your Personal Meeting ID when hosting public events. If your PMI is shared, anyone can join your personal virtual space at any time. Please see the video tutorial on meeting IDs here.
• Ensure screen sharing is disabled for non-hosts: Change your Zoom meeting’s settings so that random participants are blocked from sharing their screens. Select Share Screen > Advanced Settings > Who can share? > Only host at the bottom of your Zoom meeting. You can also set up this preference before your Zoom call via Settings > Screen Sharing.
• Turn off annotation: You and your participants can doodle and mark up content together using annotations when screens are shared. Disable the annotation feature in your Zoom settings to prevent people from writing all over the screens.
• Require password to join: In addition to making Zoom rooms private, hosts can also require participants to enter a password to join. Password settings can be found here: Settings > Meetings > Schedule meetings > Require password when scheduling new meetings.
• Enable the Waiting Room feature: One of the best ways to use Zoom for public events is to enable the Waiting Room feature. Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them.
• Disable file transfers: Consider disabling in-meeting file transfers or limiting what types of files can be transferred. Disable this feature by selecting User Management > Group Management > File Transfer to disable, or Account Management > IM Management > File Transfer to indicate what types of files are acceptable.
• Pre-registration: Setting up pre-registration (eg. via Eventbrite) can help to mitigate entry of potential hackers into the meeting space.

Safety during your meeting:

• Muting participants: Consider using the Mute All Controls at the bottom of the participants list to prevent disruptive and abusive behaviour by potential hackers.
• Removing participants:  If a participant needs to be removed for disruptive or abusive behaviour, next to the person you want to remove, click More > From the list that appears, click Remove.
• Disable Rejoin: Make sure participants can’t enter the meeting space again if they’ve been removed from a Zoom call. To disable this Rejoin, the host should go to User Management > Group Management > Settings > Meeting > In-Meeting (Basic), and switch off Allow Removed Participants To Rejoin.

Helpful resources:

• Managing users, Zoom (video tutorial)
• How to Prevent “Zoombombing”, ADL
• How To Keep Your Zoom Calls Protected Against “Zoombombing”, Refinery29

The SVRI webinar “Advancing research on violence against women – Partnering for impact and scale” has been rescheduled with improved safety features. The new date of the webinar: 7 April 2020, Time: 3:30-5pm SAST and 9:30-11:00 am EST. Please register via the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-advancing-research-on-violence-against-women-partnering-for-impact-tickets-101703933202.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to us with ideas, recommendations on how to secure online events.

Yours in solidarity,

The SVRI Team