Zoom Adds External Authentication Feature to Make Virtual Classrooms More Secure

Single Sign-On will allow students to log in one time and get access to all the applications, data, and services they require.

By Tanishka Sodhi | Updated: 9 October 2020 11:58 IST

Zoom Adds External Authentication Feature to Make Virtual Classrooms More Secure

External Authentication brings a layer of security to virtual classrooms on Zoom

Highlights

Zoom has added an external authentication feature for students
This adds a layer of security to virtual classrooms
Only authenticated students can be allowed in Zoom sessions

Zoom has introduced an external authentication feature to make virtual classrooms more secure. Single Sign-On (SSO) will allow students to log in one time and get access to all the applications, data, and services they require. Students can be properly identified within the meeting using the name from the identity provider (IDP) and only authenticated students can be allowed in the session. This adds a layer of security to Zoom and makes the process of online learning simpler for students as well as teachers.

Zoom already has an SSO option for teachers and staff to securely access their Zoom meetings, and this is now being extended to the classroom for students as well, the company said in a press release. Authentication profiles allow hosts to restrict meeting participants to logged-in users and Zoom users whose email addresses use a certain domain only.

School IT administrators can set up their Zoom accounts so that students are required to authenticate against the SSO provider of the school identity system before joining the meeting. This external authentication adds an extra layer of security to the Zoom classes. It is a secure way to authenticate users.

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For students, this ensures that they have one-click access to all their school applications and simplifies username and password management. This way, they won't get locked out of the meeting and miss out on anything. This will also simplify the attendance process, as every student's Zoom meeting history gets logged in the Zoom dashboard.

As the world moved to virtual classrooms in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Zoom and other video conferencing services experienced a surge in users. Hybrid classrooms, however, come with their own share of problems, mainly to do with privacy and security concerns.

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