Dear Faculty and Staff,
To help protect our virtual learning and meeting environments, CUNY has implemented an important update to the way publicly posted Zoom meetings must be configured.
Effective immediately, any Zoom meeting link that is shared publicly (including websites, newsletters, social media, or any platform accessible without login) must be either:
- Password‑protected, or
- Restricted to authenticated users only (participants must sign in with a Zoom account to join)
This requirement is intended to help prevent unauthorized individuals from entering and disrupting sessions
How to Enable Password Protection
When scheduling a meeting:
- Open Zoom (desktop app or web portal at https://cuny.zoom.us/.
- Select Schedule.
- Under Security, check the box for “Passcode.”
- Use the auto‑generated passcode or create your own.
- Share the passcode only with the intended participants.
For an existing meeting:
- Go to the Meetings tab.
- Select the meeting you want to edit.
- Under Security, check “Passcode.”
- Save your changes.
- Send updated meeting details to your participants.
How to Require Authentication
To restrict meetings to authenticated users:
- Log into the Zoom web portal https://cuny.zoom.us/.
- Go to Meetings → Schedule a Meeting (or edit an existing meeting).
- Under Security, check “Require authentication to join.”
- Choose one of the following:
- Zoom‑signed‑in users
- Zoom‑signed‑in users from CUNY (if applicable)
- Save your settings.
This prevents unknown or anonymous users from joining.
Best Practices for Securing Public Zoom Sessions
- Do not post passcodes on public sites. Share them only with intended participants.
- Enable the Waiting Room for an additional layer of control.
- Disable “Join Before Host” so participants cannot enter unsupervised.
- Limit screen sharing to “Host only” unless needed.
- Monitor the participant list during the meeting to remove unknown users.
- Avoid using Personal Meeting IDs (PMIs) for public or recurring events.
For assistance or to report any issues with Zoom please reach out to our IT Helpdesk helpdesk@PROTECTED .
Thanks,
York IT