Security Recommendations: Class Meetings & Guest Speakers

UPDATED: February 24, 2021

Northwestern's recommendations ensure your Zoom class meetings are secure. In most cases, one simple option will secure your class. In other instances, instructors may wish to enable multiple security features. Below are instructions on securing:

• Meetings with Only Northwestern Participants (recommended for most classes)
• Meetings with Guest Speakers or Guest Attendees [UPDATED]
• Instructions for Students

Meetings with Only Northwestern Participants

The most secure way to lock down your Zoom session to avoid outside interference is to enable the "Only authenticated users" setting for a meeting. This setting ensures that participants will need to log in to Zoom with their NetID and password before joining the meeting. 

Scheduling a Meeting for Authenticated Users Only:

1. When scheduling a Zoom meeting in Canvas, ensure the box that reads "Require authentication to join" is checked, and that when checked, it reads "Require authentication to join: Northwestern users only" (do not attempt to edit the listed domains). If you do not see "Northwestern users only" after selecting this option, please reach out to consultant@northwestern.edu to ensure your Zoom account is set up correctly.
2. Proceed with any additional Zoom meeting settings and save your meeting.
   
   

Meetings with Guest Speakers or Guest Attendees [UPDATED]

Add an Authentication Exception

The most secure way to allow a guest speaker into your meeting is to add them as an authentication exception. To use this feature, follow these steps:

1. In Canvas, schedule your meeting and enable the "Require authentication to join: Northwestern users only" setting. 
2. Log in to https://northwestern.zoom.us/ Links to an external site. and locate your Meeting in the Meetings tab. 
3. Click Edit (if this is a recurring meeting, you'll want to edit all occurrences).
4. Scroll down to "Require authentication to join," and click "Add" to the right of "Authentication Exception."
5. Add the email address associated with your guest speaker's Zoom account (you can do this more than once if you have multiple guests).
6. Click Save to exit the Authentication Exception area, and then scroll down and save the changes to your Meeting.

Once enabled, your meeting will be accessible only to attendees logged in to their Zoom account. Your guest speaker(s) will receive an email with a unique link that will provide access to the meeting.

  

  

Waiting Room for Guests Only [use for meetings using Personal Meeting ID]

An additional option for allowing guest speakers is the Waiting Room setting. The meeting host will need to manually admit non-Northwestern attendees from the Waiting Room (meeting hosts should only admit attendees whose names they recognize). This is a less secure option. The following instructions detail how to use the waiting room for non-Northwestern attendees only, 

1. Log in to your account at https://northwestern.zoom.us/ Links to an external site.
2. Links to an external site.Click on Settings in the left navigation panel.
3. Locate the Waiting Room setting, enable it, and, if you would like your Northwestern students to bypass it, select "Users who are not in your account." This allows anyone logged in to Zoom with their Northwestern NetID and password to bypass the waiting room, while sending non-Northwestern guests into the waiting room.
4. When scheduling a meeting in Canvas, check the box to enable the waiting room, but leave "Only authenticated users can join" unchecked.
5. Consider also adding a passcode to the meeting and sharing it with your external guest(s).

Students will be able to enter the meeting directly if they are logged in to Zoom. Your guest(s) will appear in the waiting room under Manage Participants in the lower tool bar. You'll want to confirm the Zoom names for your guest(s) prior to the event so that you can easily identify them in the waiting room.

Instructions for Students

For students, these security settings mean that they MUST log in to Zoom using their NetID and password before joining your session. They can follow these instructions for logging in to the Zoom app (recommended).

1. Using the Zoom app on a desktop or mobile device, go to the Zoom app’s Sign In page and select Sign In with SSO.
2. On the next screen, enter "northwestern" in the box labeled "Your company domain".
3. Select Continue and sign in with NetID and password.

Then students will be able to click on the link to your Zoom session and join it.