Zoom launches new feature to help prevent possible Zoombombing

Zoom's new feature will scan public posts and alert admins if the meeting URL is spotted online.

Zoombombing still happens despite new privacy features.

Zoom has been plagued with security issues all through this year. It also had to deal with people easily crashing zoom meetings aka “Zoombombing.” Zoom has now launched a new feature that will alert conference organisers of potential Zoombombing.

The new feature is called “At-Risks Meeting Notifier”, and it runs continuously in the background scanning social media posts and other sites for Zoom meeting links. Zoombombing occurred due to the ease of joining Zoom calls through the meeting links shared online. Zoombombing incidents were very alarming with people disrupting meetings by playing indecent content. Zoom later rolled out new features giving admins more control over who gets to join the meetings.

Zoom's At-Risk Meeting Notifier will alert conference organisers whenever it finds a Zoom meeting URL online. An alert will be sent via email with the warning to account holders and admins that the meeting link is publicly available leading to the risk of unwanted guests disrupting the meeting. Zoom hasn't specified which sites it scans for meeting links but mentions “social media sites and other public online resources.” The main culprits here are Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Discord.

The At-Risk Meeting Notifier will be turned on by default on Zoom. There's no requirement for users to enable the feature from their end. This feature can be helpful for meeting organisers, especially for large meetings with multiple attendees. Zoom also urges to add meeting passwords or passcodes, enable a waiting room and registration to keep meetings private and safe from Zoombombing.