Or just install Oversight, it's free, does the same thing. And if you want you can support the author on Patreon. https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.html
why are these all for MacOS? are windows and linux not targeted by similar malware?
Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
31–40 of 118 posts
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#32How do you know when Micro Snitch spies on you? I couldn't find the source code anywhere.
How do you know when MacOS spies on you? (or your microwave, for that matter)
At some level in the chain you put your trust in an authority.
Ideally the kind of authority who has more to lose than to gain from spying on their users.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#33I would really prefer all I/O devices, including touchscreens and antennas, have physical on/off switches. 1 for in and 1 for out where possible. Even if I have to open the device to flip them. I'd like to be able to turn a phone into receive-only device without worrying about what it's broadcasting. That's probably a lot more complicated than I'm imagining, but I'd like it if lines between what's a sender and what's…
I'm with you in principle but at some point it becomes ridiculous. On a smartphone, you have at least half a dozen different input and output options, probably more. Where would you even fit physical switches for them all? And, for that matter, how do you trust even the physical switch?
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#34Push notifications would be nice.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#35How do I know the software is working correctly and hasn't been suppressed or spoofed by other agents.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#36FYI, it doesn't serve exactly the same purpose, but macOS Mojave requires a permission prompt for software to access the camera and mic. Of course, if a program has access to it (including Apple's own permission-exempt software) an unauthorized app may be able to use the authorized one as a route around the sandbox: https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x2F.html But Mojave also added an "APP_1 wants to control APP_2"…
I've seen that prompt twice since I updated and one time I could figure out why it was happening, the other time I couldn't. I'm not sure what to tell my friends who ask me about Mac stuff to do when they see that prompt.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How do you know when Micro Snitch spies on you? I couldn't find the source code anywhere. Source code isn't really necessary. Nor sufficient for that matter even if it was there, you'd need verifiable builds and an assurance of no self updating capability too, basically for certain minimal products you need some level of trust. As far as extra verifying though you'd probably start the same way you would minimally b…
Your healthy paranoia reminds me of a classic talk on the matter, Ken Thompson's 1984 Turing Award speech "Reflections on Trusting Trust." https://www.archive.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p7...
The “Trusting Trust” argument comes up a lot as the final counter in this line of reasoning. It’s not and work continues.
Do check out David Wheeler’s 2009 thesis on Double Diverse Compiling for instance: https://dwheeler.com/trusting-trust/
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#38FYI, it doesn't serve exactly the same purpose, but macOS Mojave requires a permission prompt for software to access the camera and mic. Of course, if a program has access to it (including Apple's own permission-exempt software) an unauthorized app may be able to use the authorized one as a route around the sandbox: https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x2F.html But Mojave also added an "APP_1 wants to control APP_2"…
This is the sort of thing that should absolutely be baked in at the lowest reasonable level.
Browser-level requests for camera/mic permission are obviously nice, and it's even better to see OSX offer the request to catch more cases and prevent workarounds. Requests for control transfers are also an obvious improvement; at a certain point the easiest way to curtail sandbox escapes without restricting normal functionality is to just talk to the user.
Honestly, a same-circuit "camera on" light is my preferred solution to this whole question, and I'd be happy to see the mic get a separate light or be tied into the camera circuit.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#39FYI, it doesn't serve exactly the same purpose, but macOS Mojave requires a permission prompt for software to access the camera and mic. Of course, if a program has access to it (including Apple's own permission-exempt software) an unauthorized app may be able to use the authorized one as a route around the sandbox: https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x2F.html But Mojave also added an "APP_1 wants to control APP_2"…
This is the sort of thing that should absolutely be baked in at the lowest reasonable level. Browser-level requests for camera/mic permission are obviously nice, and it's even better to see OSX offer the request to catch more cases and prevent workarounds. Requests for control transfers are also an obvious improvement; at a certain point the easiest way to curtail sandbox escapes without restricting normal functional…
Honestly, a same-circuit "camera on" light is my preferred solution to this whole question, and I'd be happy to see the mic get a separate light or be tied into the camera circuit.
The problem is that this doesn't help if you have a desktop machine, but you are not literally sitting behind it to notice the light. Software could still eavesdrop on conversations during that time.
The nice thing about Micro Snitch is that it also keeps a log.
Ideally, we would of course have all these levels of protection: a light, a physical switch to disconnect the camera and mic, sandboxing with camera/mic permissions, and logs like those provided by Micro Snitch.
Re: Micro Snitch – Know when someone spies on you
#40Or just install Oversight, it's free, does the same thing. And if you want you can support the author on Patreon. https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.html
why are these all for MacOS? are windows and linux not targeted by similar malware?
Perhaps it's because Mac hardware is fairly homogeneous, so it's relatively easy to write software that targets every model.
Who knows how many cameras and audio input devices exist for generic PCs. Probably most of them use standard APIs you could interrogate, but I bet not all of them.