Best practices to avoid meeting intruders in Blackboard Collaborate

Campuses are reporting instances in which strangers have accessed Blackboard Collaborate sessions and caused disturbances. These uninvited guests have not hacked into Blackboard--they have simply taken advantage of Blackboard Collaborate settings similar to "Zoom Bombing" as reported in the news. Intruders had simply received the guest link and telephone number and joined the Blackboard Collaborate session anonymously.

Instructors can avoid intruders in Blackboard Collaborate by:

• Creating a separate Collaborate session for each online meeting
• Disabling guest access and require students to join Collaborate sessions through Blackboard so participants can be identified
• Disabling private chat and muting microphones so that students will have to use the raise hand feature to be unmuted by you

Helpful instructions for these Blackboard Collaborate settings can be found in the following links (also available from the CUNY Blackboard Collaborate page):

• Manage Attendees (Blackboard page describing how to mute attendees, manage attendees and remove attendees)  
• Session Best Practices (Blackboard page that includes guidance on participant permissions, guest links, and tips on conducting successful online meetings)