To Our Campus Community

The use of Zoom for video conferencing by our campus community has skyrocketed for classes, business meetings, and social interactions. At Montclair State University, we have gone from 50 Zoom conferences each weekday to 1500. Worldwide, Zoom has grown from hosting 10 million meetings per day, pre-COVID, to more than 200 million meetings a day during the pandemic. Concerns about Zoom security and so-called “Zoom-bombing,” where uninvited guests disturb meetings in progress, have led to software security updates at Zoom to ensure that your meetings and the devices you use are safe when utilizing the conferencing platform.

Like other technology vendors, Zoom regularly releases software updates including updated security features. For workstations/computers owned and managed by Montclair State University, Information Technology automatically pushes out these updates. We urge that you restart (“reboot”) your MSU workstation daily to assure you pick up these and other updates. For non-MSU-managed workstations, you should see reminders from Zoom to apply these updates; apply vendor-supplied updates on a timely basis.

In addition, here’s how to utilize Zoom’s features to protect against uninvited guests:

Schedule your Zoom class or conference from within Canvas using the Zoom-Canvas Integration. This will limit Zoom attendees to your class members.

In addition, use a password for your Zoom meetings. Also, consider enabling the Zoom “waiting room” to screen guests in advance before admitting them into your meeting. To maximize security and minimize risks while working remotely, please follow Montclair State’s best practices for safety and security that can be found on the Information Technology website.

Refer to our Video Conferencing at MSU page for additional guidance for using Zoom. As always, make sure you have completed MSU’s cybersecurity training with guidance for understanding and mitigating the risks that are a part of today’s electronic data environment. Access the training at https://access.sans.org/go/montclair.

Contact the IT Service Desk at itservicedesk@montclair.edu with any further questions or concerns that your system or Zoom conference may have been compromised.

Additional Resources

• Zoom FAQs
• How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event
• Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom
• Zoom Client Downloads

Regards,
Candy Fleming
CIO and Vice President, Information Technology
Montclair State University