Zoom Two-Factor Authentication- Securing Your Account Even Better than Before
The COVID-19 pandemic shut us all indoors
and unable to carry on our daily interactions. People, being the social animals
that we all are, needed a new way of being able to communicate with their
friends, family, and even work colleagues. This led to many companies
developing new software or working on improving their older ones to meet the
need of the hour.
While many different brands brought forward
their voice and video conferencing tools to the limelight, Zoom truly stood out among all. Soon enough, most
schools, universities, and even workplaces were using it to carry out smooth
working operations. Family dinner meetups and friends virtual happy hours, all
have been taking place over Zoom.
What Makes Zoom Stand Out?
Currently dominating the competition from
Microsoft (Skype) and even Google (Meet/Hangouts), Zoom has become the hot new
way for people across the globe to stay connected.
With daily active users just in the UK peaking
to 770
thousand in May 2020, Zoom is suddenly found everywhere.
How did it get this massive popularity
though?
Zoom is currently found on top of the list
of most downloaded apps, second only to TikTok. This is because it took video
conferencing and enhanced it even further by putting in additional features
that no other software offers.
Adding in features like ‘built-in
beautification filter, and ‘virtual backgrounds’ gave Zoom a brand new appeal.
This was further supported by impressive functionality and high-quality video
streaming, making communication not just easy but also fun for people during
these trying times.
Moreover, they offer two different avenues for
online conferencing; Zoom Meeting and Zoom Room.
Zoom Meeting is hosted on the app itself
and only requires you to connect a phone or webcam. On the other hand, Zoom
Room offers you the opportunity to work from your conferencing room, aided by a
specialized setup.
Top-notch Security Protocols
One of the reasons why people are flocking
to use Zoom is because of how seriously it takes security concerns.
When reports of “Zoombombing”
and other breaches arose, the app stepped up and gave admins the right to
disable personal meeting IDs from starting or scheduling new meetings. This
stopped any intruders who got the ID to host a conference.
Additionally, it set up a password
requirement to host meetings, even for basic accounts.
The Two-Factor Authentication Release
To further crackdown against hackers and
trolls, Zoom two-factor authentication
system was rolled out earlier this year.
This is an enhanced means of protecting
users and preventing any sensitive data breeches directly from the Zoom app.
The two-factor
authentication system works by prompting users to present two or more
separate means of identification before hosting a meeting.
This could be anything from a piece of
information only the user would know (for eg, a pin or password), something the
user owns or uses (for eg, a cell phone device or smart card) or a personal
feature (for eg, voice recognition or fingerprints). It is basically a means of
double-proofing your identity.
Once Zoom’s two-factor authentication has been enabled,
you can either have Zoom send a code to your phone or use an authentication app.
These apps, like Microsoft Authenticator or FreeOTP, use a Time-Based One-Time Password
(TOTP) that you enter within a certain time limit to gain access.
Some of the benefits of the authentication
include:
·
Improved
security of your data.
·
Fights
against identity theft.
·
Increased
compliance with the obligation of protecting your user data.
·
Better
credential management.
·
A
highly-safe system at reduced costs for schools and small-scale businesses.
How to Enable the Authentication System
By applying a varying range of
authentication systems, for eg, OAuth, SAML, or even password/pin
authentication, Zoom lets you enable additional security.
To enable two-factor authentication on
zoom:
Step 1
Sign in to Zoom’s Dashboard.
Step 2
Go to the Navigation menu and click on
Advanced.
Step 3
Select Security under the Advanced options.
Step 4
Check to see if the ‘Sign in with
Two-Factor Authentication’ option has been enabled.
Step 5
You will see the following options to
enable the authentication system:
a.
All users in your account: enable authentication for all the users in your account.
b.
Users with specific roles:
enable authentication for users with specific roles. You can click Select
specified roles and chose certain roles. Then, click Ok.
c. Users
from specific groups: enable authentication only
for users within a specific group. Select the pencil icon and choose whichever
groups you want. Then, click Ok.
Step 6
Select Save to confirm the settings you
chose to enable the system.
At the End
All of these efforts have been made to help
keep organizations safe from security breaches and leaking of confidential
data. Gaining access to sensitive information, particularly in malicious hands,
could be dangerous and lead to terrible consequences.
Previously this year, Zoom also released
end-to-end encryption for video conferencing. However, it was for paid users
only and caused major controversy after which the communications platform
relented. Finally, the encryption was made available to everyone and when
two-factor authentication was released, it covered all users.
If you’d like to learn more about how
technology is adapting to fit into our new normal with COVID-19, visit our website today!
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