Zoom introduces option to disable personal meeting IDs in an attempt to curb Zoombombing

To protect users from hackers and intruders, Zoom has come up with the facility of disabling personal meeting IDs or PMIs. A PMI is one of two ways of getting access to a user’s personal meeting room, or a virtual private room reserved only for the particular user. Now with the new security setups, the risk of Zoombombing is eliminated, claims Zoom. For the unversed, Zoombombing is basically when an uninvited person joins a Zoom meeting, usually by guessing or somehow acquiring the meeting ID. According to How to Geek, the problem of Zoombombing is not necessarily a security glitch. As links to a Zoom meeting are shared thousands of times between multiple users, carelessness can end up making the meeting public. [caption id=“attachment_8210941” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Zoom video conferencing app.zoom[/caption] Elaborating on the issue, Edward Lee from Zoom wrote on the company blog, “Because PMIs are always accessible using the same ID or meeting link, anyone can join unless they’re properly secured. Disabling the use of PMIs reduces that risk altogether and doesn’t leave PMI security up to individual users. This option to disable PMIs can be locked at the account or group level.” Once the PMIs are disabled, “existing PMIs and personal links will become invalid and cannot be used to host a meeting”. However, a user can start instant meetings with a randomly generated ID. The blog also explained that users would not be able to use a PMI in the scheduler, once the personal meeting ID has been disabled. All meetings will automatically use randomly generated IDs. As a PMI provides access to a personal meeting room, by disabling PMIs, the personalized link to get a personal room will be also lost. Zoom has also specified certain security steps for those who want to hold onto their PMIs. Such users have been advised to come up with meeting passwords, enabling waiting room, turning off the ‘join before host’ option, and see that only authenticated users join the meeting.