Zoom Two-Factor Authentication- Securing Your Account Even Better than Before

 

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!