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Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

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Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#351

Post by valuearb »

soulofmischief wrote: post #315
valuearb wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people forget to slide the camera cover.

That's circular logic. People forget simply because camera covers are not common enough, so it's not a valid argument for why they shouldn't be more common.

People forget because you have to train yourself to remember, and outside of intelligence agency personnel, no one is doing that.

Camera covers are just another example of security for show. Having a camera cover on a pc without a hard wired camera indicator like Macs have means you will never know how many of those times you were filmed after forgetting to slide your camera cover over.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#352

Post by OriginalPenguin »

reaperducer wrote: post #183

Looking at the comments here, I guess I'm the only one who finds sadness that Apple even has to publish this document. Some of those novelty and promotional camera covers are really quite thick. And it just seems like common sense to me that you wouldn't close a laptop with one of those things on. Just like I wouldn't close my laptop with a pen or a ham sandwich tucked into it. But I guess Apple has had enough compla…

The problem is it worked extremely well on older Macs.

People assume since it worked great on their old Mac, they can do it on their new one.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#353

Post by iso947 »

jachee wrote: post #295
happytoexplain wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. I use one for these reasons, in descending order of practical concern: 1. I don't want to broadcast myself during a meeting when I'm not prepared, or perhaps leave a meeting open by accident. 2. If a bad actor does access my camera, I won't necessarily notice the indicator light, especially if I'm not actively using the computer at that moment. 3. I don't trust the indicator light to be permanently unha…

As long as you maintain physical possession of your machine, point 3 is moot, at least on Macs.

I leave my laptop in my hotel room while I go out for dinner, so point 3 is valid.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#354

Post by malandrew »

hanniabu wrote: post #147
ashtonkem wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With regard to privacy, the microphone is 100x more sensitive than the camera most of the time, and it’s much harder to secure.

Mic-Lock: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KRC3G7R/

It's a shame they don't have a USB-C one that looks like a compact USB-C YubiKey.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#355

Post by banana_giraffe »

leogout wrote: post #312

How does the smart backlight can adjust luminosity without triggering the webcam's indicator then ? (genuenly curious, I don't know how it works)

There's a separate ambient light sensor. On some models you can make out the three separate holes above the monitor, one for the webcam, one for the led, and one for the light sensor.

I can't for the life of me see it with more recent models, but if block the camera it's clearly still there since it can respond to light changes, but if you block enough of the area around the camera, it'll default to assuming you're in darkness.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#356

Post by m463 »

the-pigeon wrote: post #196
alunchbox wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason Zukerberg's laptop has its mic and camera tapped up. It doesn't matter what device you use unless there's a physical switch to disconnect it'll never be safe. Software can ALWAYS have zero days, just because it hasn't been exploited yet doesn't mean it can't be.

But can't you specifically wire the indicator light to always be lit if the camera has power? I don't see Apple claiming they've done that but a correct design would make the indicator light work that way and be related to software at all. Meaning you could only disable the indicator light by physically modifying the device.

In the case of the school district spying on the kids, the light would just blink and be gone.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#357

Post by iso947 »

pkage wrote: post #325
hanniabu wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mic-Lock: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KRC3G7R/

That's incredibly overpriced at $26.99 for what is essentially just a dummy input...

To be fair it’s a 5 pack

It seems to be something with a switch that disconnects one of the rings of a 4 pin. Easy enough, but $5 doesn’t seem awful.

Of course it doesn’t disconnect built in microphones, and with modern Apple phones getting rid of 3.5mm jacks it’s value is less.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#358

Post by macintux »

valuearb wrote: post #280
SAI_Peregrinus wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T480. Its webcam switch is a slider that covers the webcam lens. You don't need a fancy microscope, or a solid understanding of EE, or tens of thousands of hours. You need the ability to see the slider cover the lens. Takes all of half a second and at least 1 eye.

And the hackers still win, cause no one remembers to slide it shut after a call, and they can hack the led so there is no physical indicator when they are watching.

I honestly can't remember the last time I used my camera during a company meeting, and I've been working remotely since March.

So, there's definitely value to a built-in cover; in my case it would stay shut permanently.

Re: Don't close your MacBook with a cover over the camera

#360

Post by PascLeRasc »

inopinatus wrote: post #278
foota wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My threat model doesn't involve someone disassembling my laptop and rewiring it, at that point they might as well just plant a bug.

This isn’t speculation. Opening up hardware to modify the internals is something that covert agencies do, and it’s naive to think that the purpose is equivalent to a simple bug. As someone who posts to Hacker News you are by almost any definition a potential information source or APT vector.

Apple's already addressed this by making their laptops nearly impossible to open up.
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