The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam • Hacker News Board

rdl wrote: post #29

I care about audio so much more than video, and text/keys/etc captured from the machine even more. As long as my screen and keyboard are out of the frame of the camera, I don't really care about it getting RATed. At worst, you'll see me naked, or making angry/etc. faces at someone on irc or email. While embarrassing it would be less bad than most of what you could accomplish by stealing actual information. OTOH, carr…

That custom run you've described sounds like exactly the sort of "interesting" order I'd like to intercept and backdoor (as part of NSA's TAO or some other yet unnamed organization).

Personally I'd prefer to buy off-the-shelf hardware and just snip the mic and camera.

Re: The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam

#57

Post by 50CNT » Sat, Apr 09, 2016, 4:59 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #29

I care about audio so much more than video, and text/keys/etc captured from the machine even more. As long as my screen and keyboard are out of the frame of the camera, I don't really care about it getting RATed. At worst, you'll see me naked, or making angry/etc. faces at someone on irc or email. While embarrassing it would be less bad than most of what you could accomplish by stealing actual information. OTOH, carr…

Some laptops already have physical switches for wireless connectivity, couldn't you just add one of those that cuts power to the onboard microphone and camera?

Re: The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam

#58

Post by StanislavPetrov » Sat, Apr 09, 2016, 5:00 AM UTC

I've been telling friends and family to do this long before the Snowden revelations (as well as disabling their computers internal microphone). Many of them mocked me about the shine on my tinfoil hat. They don't do so much mocking anymore.

Re: The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam

#59

Post by tlrobinson » Sat, Apr 09, 2016, 5:03 AM UTC

robertkrahn01 wrote: post #55

Ever seen Whitfield Diffie's Laptop? ;) http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-sticky-tape-can-secure-your...

It's not that uncommon. EFF sells a sticker set specifically for this purpose: https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-set

Re: The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam

#60

Post by billhendricksjr » Sat, Apr 09, 2016, 5:05 AM UTC

JohnTHaller wrote: post #25

billhendricksjr wrote: post #16

Don't almost all cameras activate their "on" light when being used?

Like phones, most laptop webcams have no "on" light. You have to trust that the software you have on your device isn't using the microphone and camera without your permission.

Have there been any documented cases of an iPhone's camera or mic getting hijacked?