Information Technology Services

Securing Zoom Meetings & Classes

Securing your meetings helps protect data and sensitive information that is shared during the meeting, safeguards the privacy of participants, and prevents unauthorized access from intruders or third-party AI bots/applications.

All Zoom meetings hosted by a George Mason-licensed Zoom account are required to use at least one security measure.

A waiting room will automatically be added to any Zoom meetings scheduled to occur on or after May 16, 2025, that do not have a security measure in place.

Check your Meeting Security Status

  • In your list of scheduled meetings, check to see if there is an icon of an exclamation mark inside a circle next to your meeting title
  • When you hover over the icon, it will read: “This meeting does not have a waiting room or passcode.”

Security Features in Zoom

The following security features in Zoom have been reviewed and configured to help maintain the integrity of your Zoom meetings, hosted by a George Mason-licensed account. Features that are “unlocked” can be adjusted by individual users.

Note: Settings are configured differently for the HIPAA Compliant Zoom Secure environment.

FeatureEnabledDisabledLockedUnlocked
Waiting Room  
Passcode  
Require Authentication  
Add Cohost  
Host control over sharing  
Hide participant profile images  
Host can report participants to Zoom  
“Guest” label for users not authenticated via a George Mason licensed account  
Host is notified when attendees join the meeting before the host  
Join before host” as default setting  
Use of Personal Meeting ID (PMI) when scheduling a meeting  
Use of Personal Meeting ID (PMI) when starting an instant meeting  
Private chat (participants’ ability to send private 1:1 messages to another participant)  
Auto save chats  
Remote control  
Allow removed participants to rejoin the meeting  
Auto-accept far-end camera control  

*A setting that is locked cannot be changed by the user. A setting that is unlocked may be toggled on

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