Cyber Security Hygiene (Proactive) Avoid sharing your full-screen

This article is part of my Cybersecurity Hygiene Series - I recommend reading the background information about the series first to understand how these tips are structured. See this post: Cyber Security Hygiene.

Avoid sharing your full-screen

This one is quite simple and applies to anyone that ever needs to share content during a video call (e.g., on Teams, Zoom, Google Meet etc..) avoid sharing your "screen" instead share the specific application you actually want people to see.

Why?

When you share your entire screen you risk accidentally sharing incidental information that you never intended to share with the people on the video call. Things like notifications that pop-up, other windows in the background etc... Also your screen is a fixed resolution, if all you want to share can be represented in a smaller area it will appear larger to the people viewing it... so, easier to read.

Consider also that if you share a browser window, people can see all your open tabs and your bookmarks bar (if enabled) You may wish you keep a separate browser just for presentations if you do many, that has no bookmarks.

What do I do?

Almost all the video calling applications that allow you to share your screen also allow you to share a specific application. In most cases the applications appear after the screen(s) when you click the share button, so just scroll down and pick the specific window you need to share. 

Bonus Tips:

Close as many applications as possible before sharing, this will reduce the risk of accidental information disclosure (remember some applications also make sounds!) your presentation will run faster too.