【Married Women’s Sex Party】

When it comes to securing your video calls from hackers and Married Women’s Sex Partyspammers, Zoom knows it set its users up to fail. But now a software update to the popular video conferencing tool aims to do something about that.

At issue are Zoom Meeting IDs. The update, which can be downloaded today, makes it harder for users to queue themselves up for 'Zoombombings' by hiding the 9- to 11-digit ID numbers that were previously displayed prominently in every Zoom call.

Until an April 4 update that forced users to employ meeting passwords, Meeting IDs acted in some sense like the phone number for an old-fashioned party call: If you had the number, then you could dial in. As we've written about extensively, many people new to the shelter-in-place life made necessary by the coronavirus couldn't stop themselves from sharing screenshots and photos of their Zoom calls and work-from-home setups. Often, those photos included Zoom Meeting IDs.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

Yes, even people that definitely should have known better — like, for example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — made that mistake. And while the added protection of a password made it harder for hackers to break into calls, it definitely did not make it impossible.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

By no longer displaying Meeting IDs in calls, Zoom hopes to make it more difficult for oblivious users to mistakenly blow up their own spot.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"Remove the meeting ID from the title bar," reads the release note that comes with Zoom version 4.6.20041.0408.

And like that, Zoom's problems were solved. Credit: screenshot / zoom app

To make sure you have the most up-to-date version of the desktop software, open up Zoom on your computer and select the "check for updates" option. If an update is available, download it. For Zoom iOS and Android apps, you should check for update availability in the App Store and Google Play store (it's always important to keep apps up to date, as these sometimes contain vital security patches). Although, as of the time of this writing, the Android and iOS Zoom app-update pages show no sign of any changes to how Meeting IDs are displayed.

Zoom has struggled recently with its newfound popularity and this latest move is another example of the company being forced to retroactively make security changes. For people that are unwilling to use Zoom alternatives, this update will hopefully make their video-chatting experience slightly more secure.

SEE ALSO: Zoom is a work-from-home privacy disaster waiting to happen

Of course, it won't stop anyone from mistakenly sharing other private Zoom data. There's no cure for stupid, after all.

Topics Cybersecurity COVID-19

• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Shopping
• Life
• Science

• Waymo data shows humans are terrible drivers compared to AI
• Literary Feuds: John Irving and J. P. Donleavy
• The catchiest earworms of 2021 that you just can't get out of your head
• Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for September 20
• The cicadas aren't invading the U.S.
• The iPhone 15 reviews are out. Here are the 3 things people dislike most about it.
• Listen: An Archival Interview with Horton Foote
• Leavening Agent—Or Ticking Time
• Skype is finally shutting down
• Artists on Tumblr created adorable avatars for new users

• Remembering the Goops
• A Curmudgeonly Pain in the Ass by Dan Piepenbring
• The Savage by David Mamet
• Happy Birthday, Philip Roth
• Look at Colt’s Revolver Patent, Granted 178 Years Ago Today
• Look at These Colorful Diagrams of Famous First Sentences from Literature
• The Morning News Roundup for March 7, 2014
• Why a Long Train Ride Is Perfect for Writers
• The History of Chock Full o’ Nuts (That Heavenly Cup)
• John Ashbery reads ”A Boy”

• Best Max streaming deal: Save 20% on annual subscriptions
• When Eudora Welty Went Sailing with Faulkner
• Watch: Nabokov Shows Off His Many Editions of “Lolita”
• Get $10 off an Amazfit Band 7 fitness tracker at Amazon
• Amazon Pet Day: All the best deals
• Gunter Grass Is Dead at Eighty
• What Happens When You Lose a Nail
• On Elvis and Teddy Bears
• Boeing's new VR simulator immerses astronauts in space training
• All the new devices Amazon announced at its fall hardware event

• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve Connections #237
• Can People Write from the Perspective of Animals?
• Listen: An Archival Interview with Tony Kushner
• The iPhone 15 reviews are out. Here are the 3 things people dislike most about it.
• Waitin’ on the Student Debt Jubilee
• Gunter Grass Is Dead at Eighty
• Steve DiBenedetto’s Cave Paintings for the Future
• Derrida’s Teacher Calls His Writing “Quite Incomprehensible”
• Ryzen 5 1600X vs. 1600: Which should you buy?
• The Forest of Letters: An Interview with Valerie Miles