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FBI director: Cover up your webcam

thehill.com

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Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#221

Post by tantalor »

Houshalter wrote: post #216
onion2k wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least I can put a piece of tape over the camera after the light turns on At which point it's already too late - the hacker has had access to your camera for some period of time, until you notice the light. If you're interested in stopping people seeing you then you've failed. Putting a hardware block on the camera (eg tape) before you're hacked means that the hacker won't ever get access to your camera to…

>At which point it's already too late - the hacker has had access to your camera for some period of time, until you notice the light. Yeah for like 10 seconds. Who cares? The problem with webcams is they can spy on you for days and weeks on end, and record your sensitive conversations.

Recording conversations has nothing to do with the camera. You might be thinking of the microphone. Should we put a little LED on that too?

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#222

Post by mdrzn »

nannal wrote: post #170
jeffwass wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I only use palindromic passwords made up of symmetric letters, so they're readable both directly and in the mirror.

http://filebin.ca/2v9C6MeDhDop/funnylist.txt

I love this. How did you generate it?

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#223

Post by Kenji »

6t6t6t6 wrote: post #6

From all they ways I can be spied, the webcam is the one that concerns me the least. At the end, all they will see is a bearded man staring to the front. May they be able to see me naked? Well, probably, but I honestly don't think that they will make a lot of money by selling my naked pictures... My wife tells me that I still look good, but I suspect that she is being nice to me. What would scare more is that they ma…

You make the common mistake of thinking that partial security is no better than no security because you can still get compromised.

Spoiler alert: It is.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#224

Post by jcadam »

pwg wrote: post #193
benevol wrote: post #107

Every electronic communication device (laptop, mobile, tablet, etc) should have 1 hardware switch per sensor (camera, mic, motion/acceleration, etc) which disables the sensor. Why manufacturers still haven't introduced this is beyond me.

>Why manufacturers still haven't introduced this is beyond me. Expense and lack of demand. Some older laptops used to feature hardware kill switches for the wifi (this was prior to the advent of a camera in every laptop). The old Dell D820 model was one such laptop. Eventually they were dropped all around because from the makers point of view, the presence of the switch had no effect on the sales of the laptops. Anyt…

I've found many of those supposedly 'hardware' wifi kill switches were software controlled (When I installed Linux on an old Dell, it completely ignored the state of the wifi switch).

I want a switch that physically cuts power to a device, but no... :(

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#225

Post by bobsoap »

bobsoap wrote: post #130

Instead of a sticker, one could also use this clever, simple, magnetic gadget (not affiliated): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1893116150/nope-20-live...

Seriously, downvoted without an explanation? That's quite poor. If something about my post offends anyone, I'd love to know about it.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#226

Post by icantdrive55 »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #73
6t6t6t6 wrote: post #6

From all they ways I can be spied, the webcam is the one that concerns me the least. At the end, all they will see is a bearded man staring to the front. May they be able to see me naked? Well, probably, but I honestly don't think that they will make a lot of money by selling my naked pictures... My wife tells me that I still look good, but I suspect that she is being nice to me. What would scare more is that they ma…

You're displaying a common trope I see sometimes with security: > "because this particular thing does affect me personally, it doesn't matter. And because it doesn't matter to me it doesn't matter at all" Blackmailing people with pictures taken from webcams is not theoretical. It happens[0] and it's good advice to tape up your cam. It may not affect you personally, but it may affect your wife, daughter, or sister in…

It's not just blackmail that I worry about.

A hypothetical, ruthless hacker manages to install malware on a person's computer. Hell they could target certain zip codes. All the information is on the Internet. Hell, they could get a picture of your home. (By the way, Google will blure out you home, if you ask. It tends to reappear, although they claim its permanent. If your house has been sold recently, a thief/criminal has easy access to interior layout through Zillow, and the like.)

They watch you through your cams. A lot can be deduced with that information--valuable information that could be sold.

Maybe I've watched too many movies, or crime shows, but I just picture certain questions being asked, "Does the home look like its worth robbing?" "Are there hostages we could take?" "What times do they leave, we need to install our cams because they might find our malware?" "Do they have a safe, or do they seem like they have money/valuables in the house, bedroom?" "Are they doing anything illegial themselfs?" They could develop psychological profiles for people?

I hate to think like this, but certain people think nothing of doing some horrid crimes. A hacker overseas gains some valuable information, and makes a phone call to the Triads, or Russian mob? Your life becomes a statistic.

It sounds far fetched, but just what if? (And am I going to cover my cams? No, because I don't have a life, and I'm poor.)

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#227

Post by soylentcola »

ojii wrote: post #156
Shanea93 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the day and age of removing headphone jacks to make a phone slimmer, taking away your disk drive, etc. Most companies care more about aesthetics than functionality at this point.

can I have a laptop without a webcam/integrated mic then?

How courageous of you!

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#228

Post by themartorana »

6t6t6t6 wrote: post #6

From all they ways I can be spied, the webcam is the one that concerns me the least. At the end, all they will see is a bearded man staring to the front. May they be able to see me naked? Well, probably, but I honestly don't think that they will make a lot of money by selling my naked pictures... My wife tells me that I still look good, but I suspect that she is being nice to me. What would scare more is that they ma…

Watching you - even bored, bearded, naked you - through your camera is the literal incarnation of 1984.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#229

Post by beachstartup »

icantdrive55 wrote: post #226
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're displaying a common trope I see sometimes with security: > "because this particular thing does affect me personally, it doesn't matter. And because it doesn't matter to me it doesn't matter at all" Blackmailing people with pictures taken from webcams is not theoretical. It happens[0] and it's good advice to tape up your cam. It may not affect you personally, but it may affect your wife, daughter, or sister in…

It's not just blackmail that I worry about. A hypothetical, ruthless hacker manages to install malware on a person's computer. Hell they could target certain zip codes. All the information is on the Internet. Hell, they could get a picture of your home. (By the way, Google will blure out you home, if you ask. It tends to reappear, although they claim its permanent. If your house has been sold recently, a thief/crimin…

this happens a lot through low tech means. they'll just case a house and note the owners' movements until they recognize a pattern.

the only real solution to this is good insurance and good luck.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#230

Post by aeze »

tychuz wrote: post #213
deftnerd wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's gotten to the point where I only feel totally comfortable using machines I've hardened myself. My hardened laptop is an older Thinkpad laptop with LibreBoot to replace the BIOS, microphone and speakers and camera disconnected internally, removed the wireless cards, encrypted the partitions, and use Whonix as the OS. I've password protected the BIOS and it's set to boot only from the hard drive and I've also epox…

I'd rather use my closed source safe operating system like Windows instead of having open source stuff with hearthbleed like stuff open for every hacker, thanks.

Makes sense, I guess it just depends on your comfort level with your computers & software.
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