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FBI director: Cover up your webcam

thehill.com

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Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#241

Post by tetha »

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…

Plus I don't buy the "Doesn't affect me"-angle. In general, people abusing vectors like this are dang smart (or know someone who knows someone who's smart. doesn't matter). There's a reason why my webcam isn't plugged in unless I explicitly use it.

What about recognizing keys, credit card details or important information in letters on the desk? Some simple image recognition for these, and a large dragnet-style attack with this seems quite lucrative from a minute or two of thought.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#242

Post by JadeNB »

fmueller wrote: post #124
josephcooney wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the author did was say it wasn't a concern for them. Nowhere did they say it didn't matter.

He's clearly a man.

> He's clearly a man.

What is the point of this comment? Even if you had some way to know (EDIT: which you (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12506075) point out is the case), why should it matter, especially since no-one else in this thread seems to have brought up gender?

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#243

Post by alexjakobnelson »

beachstartup wrote: post #229
icantdrive55 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Knowing your neighbors doesn't hurt, either. I like to think that if my neighbors noticed something untoward happening at my house, they would sound the alert.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#244

Post by Artemis2 »

awesomerobot wrote: post #205
janvidar wrote: post #112

Isn't this really just a sign of flawed hardware design? In my opinion hardware should be designed so that the camera LED lamp should always be lit if the camera is used. If there is a malfunction with the LED, then the camera should also not work. Also there should be a hardware LED for when the microphone is being used which should work in the same fashion for laptops with built-in microphones. In the webcam driver…

>If there is a malfunction with the LED, then the camera should also not work. Many would argue that this is the more flawed design.

Reminds me of this: https://9to5mac.com/2016/02/05/error-53-iphone-6

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#245

Post by ysavir »

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…

I don't think he was saying that it's not important at all. His point was that there are plenty more security risks that deserve more attention.

In particular, he was calling attention to all the people that cover up their camera and proudly exclaim "Done! Safe at last", while oblivious to all the other hacks and malware that could already be infecting their computer.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#246

Post by fmueller »

JadeNB wrote: post #242
fmueller wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's clearly a man.

> He's clearly a man. What is the point of this comment? Even if you had some way to know (EDIT: which you ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12506075 ) point out is the case), why should it matter, especially since no-one else in this thread seems to have brought up gender?

> all they will see is a bearded man staring to the front

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#247

Post by gjolund »

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…

"People who say they don't care about privacy because they have nothing to hide are like people who say they don't care about free speech because they have nothing to say."

- Edward Snowden

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#248

Post by stinkytaco »

akerro wrote: post #117
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…

1. Use Facebook 2. Use DropBox 3. Use Skype 4. Use Google services, always logged in 5. Use Windows 10 6. Use Google Chrome 7. Tape webcam ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think you've created a strawman here. It's about risk assessment and ease of implementation. Taping the webcam is easy to do, effective and easy to undo. It protects against a real, not theoretical attack. It has meaningful value. Not using Windows 10 might also have meaningful value and protect against real, not theoretical attacks, but would be difficult to do or undo.

I could also point out that you are more likely to slip in your shower and injure yourself than get struck by lightning, but I expect there are more people who know how to stay safe in a lightning storm than who have non-slip mats in their shower. You're also far more likely to get injured or killed driving your own car, but I expect many people avoid public transit out of fear, lack of convenience , etc.

No question our assessment of risk is poor, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take what steps will fit into our lives.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#249

Post by mikeash »

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

Oh shit, my password's been leaked.

Re: FBI director: Cover up your webcam

#250

Post by repler »

mangeletti wrote: post #237

I swear this is a true story: I worked at Staples when I was 19, and when I first started I was a "front end lead" (read: the only full-time cashier), so I would work behind the service counter at the front. Once, I was standing up front while there were no customers when all of the sudden the voice of the general manager (we'll call him Bill) popped onto the phone's speaker, "Hey, Michael". I looked up and noticed t…

I worked at Staples too (Business Machines!), the management was not shy about reminding us about mystery shoppers.

My managers would always walk around the corner right at the instant I would sit down for a minute when it wasn't busy 5 hours into my shift. Never failed. Ugh.

I know we didn't have surveillance cameras in the store at the time though, because it was a sore point (and against Staples policy at the time).

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