How to Secure Your Zoom Meetings from Unauthorized AI Bots

As AI-powered tools grow more advanced, so do the risks of them being misused. Unauthorized AI bots can silently join Zoom meetings, record confidential discussions, extract data, or even impersonate participants, often without raising alarms.

In a time when deepfakes, automated surveillance, and data scraping are real and growing threats, securing your Zoom environment is no longer optional.

This guide will walk you through actionable steps to protect your Zoom meetings from unauthorized AI-driven intrusions, so your conversations remain private, secure, and human-controlled.

What is a meeting AI bot? 

A Meeting AI Bot is an AI-powered virtual assistant designed to enhance meetings by automating various tasks such as transcription, summarization, note-taking, scheduling, and follow-up actions. These bots integrate with video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Slack to improve productivity and collaboration.

Common features of meeting AI bots

1. Live Transcription – Converts spoken words into text in real time.
2. Meeting Summarization – Generates key takeaways and action items.
3. Automatic Note-Taking – Captures and organizes important points.
4. Scheduling & Reminders – Helps book meetings and send reminders.
5. Speaker Identification – Recognizes different participants for better clarity.
6. AI-Powered Insights – Analyzes discussions to highlight trends or decisions.

Popular examples include Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Avoma, and Microsoft Copilot.

Risks of using meeting AI bots

While meeting AI bots offer convenience and productivity benefits, their usage comes with several risks, particularly regarding security, privacy, and compliance. The risks can be grouped into several categories. 

Privacy & data security risks:

• Unauthorized Data Collection – AI bots record and transcribe conversations, which may include sensitive or confidential information.
• Data Storage & Retention – Some AI bots store transcriptions in the cloud, increasing the risk of data breaches.
• Third-Party Access – If the bot provider lacks strong security controls, unauthorized parties could access meeting data.

Compliance & legal risks:

• Regulatory Violations – Using AI bots without proper consent may violate GDPR, HIPAA, or other privacy laws.
• Lack of User Consent – Some participants may not be aware that the meeting is being recorded, leading to legal issues.
• Intellectual Property Concerns – Meeting content could be stored or processed in ways that expose trade secrets or proprietary information.

AI misinterpretation & bias:

• Inaccurate Transcriptions – AI may misinterpret speech, leading to incorrect summaries or decisions.
• Speaker Misidentification – Bots might attribute statements to the wrong individuals, creating confusion.

Cybersecurity risks:

• Potential for AI Hijacking – Malicious actors could exploit vulnerabilities in AI bots to eavesdrop or manipulate data.
• Phishing & Deepfake Threats – AI-generated voice models could be misused for impersonation attacks.

How to configure your meeting tool to avoid unauthorized AI bot usage in Zoom

As virtual collaboration becomes more advanced, so do the risks, especially from unauthorized AI tools that can silently join, record, or extract sensitive information from your meetings. To keep your discussions private and secure, it’s critical to configure your meeting platforms with clear safeguards.

Enable the Waiting Room or Lobby Feature

By enabling the waiting room or Lobby, attendees must be manually admitted by the host. Depending on your tool, you can configure that only the meeting owner or co-owner can join without approval, or that all participants can join(as you know, AI bots will not be present as participants). This allows you to screen participants before they join the meeting.

Downside: Constant manual effort is required, especially for large meetings, which can disrupt the meeting flow.

To protect your Zoom environment, it’s crucial to implement the right controls. Here’s how to tighten security settings in Zoom and reduce the risk of unapproved AI tools accessing your meetings.

To enable or disable Waiting Room for all users in the account: 

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.

2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.

3. Click the Meeting tab.

4. Under Security, click the Waiting Room toggle to enable or disable it.

5. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable or Disable to verify the change.

6. Click Edit Options to specify Waiting Room options.

7. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing this setting, click the Lock icon, and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Notes:

• If the setting is disabled, click the Status toggle to enable it. If a verification dialog displays, choose Turn On to verify the change.
• If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at either the Group or Account level, and you will need to contact your Zoom administrator.

Select who you want to admit to the waiting room.

• All participants: All participants joining your meeting will be admitted to the waiting room. 
• Guest participants only: Only participants who are not on your Zoom account or are not logged in will be admitted to the waiting room. If not logged in, they will have an option to log in.
  Note: If Guest participants only is enabled, you can also enable the option to allow internal participants (users on the account), to admit guests from the waiting room if the host is not in the meeting.

To enable Block users in specific domains from joining meetings and webinars for all users in the account:

1.Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.

2. In the navigation menu, click Account Management then Account Settings.

3. Click the Meeting tab.

4. Under Security, click the Block users in specific domains from joining meetings and webinars toggle to enable it.

5. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.

6. Enter the domains that you want to block from joining meetings and webinars. You can add multiple domains using a comma in between, and/or use a wildcard for listing domains.

7. Click Save.

8. (Optional) To prevent all users in your account from changing this setting, click the lock icon and then click Lock to confirm the setting.

Block Anonymous Users:  Disable the option for anonymous participants to join your meeting. Downside: While effective, this can inconvenience legitimate participants who don’t have Microsoft accounts or face issues signing in.

To enable or disable Only authenticated users can join meetings for your own use:

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.

2. In the navigation menu, click Settings.

3. Click the Meeting tab.

4. Under Security, click the Only authenticated users can join meetings toggle to enable or disable it.

5. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable or Disable to verify the change.

6. Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at either the group or account level. You need to contact your Zoom admin.

Bottom line

Protecting your Zoom meetings from unauthorized AI bots requires a multi-layered approach — combining strong authentication, access controls, real-time monitoring, and user education. When properly configured, Zoom can be a secure platform for collaboration, but it depends on how you manage permissions, apps, and participation.

In today’s AI-enabled digital workspace, visibility and control are critical. Stay proactive: educate your users, monitor for unusual activity, and enforce clear security settings to ensure your virtual meetings remain private, secure, and human-led.