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

Post by orion_mc2 » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:08 AM UTC

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #715

bloody-crow wrote: post #648

This statement has a number of issues. First, you have to trust Apple that the indicator _really_ can't be disabled. You also have to trust that there isn't a vulnerability Apple is not aware about that could allow rolling the camera without the light coming on. This has happened in the past [0] and there are known Apple products that are vulnerable, yet the statement never mentions this making you believe it's impos…

> First, you have to trust Apple that the indicator _really_ can't be disabled. You also have to trust that there isn't a vulnerability Apple is not aware about that could allow rolling the camera without the light coming on. I have made this point several times throughout this thread, so I apologize for repeating myself: Every laptop Apple has manufactured in the last ten years has an LED connected to the same circu…

Post by TwoBit » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:14 AM UTC

dathinab wrote: post #109

gtm1260 wrote: post #20

I was very skeptical of the camera covers, but then through conversations with some of my co-workers, I realized that they weren't being used because people were worried about spies secretly turning on the camera. It was 90% of the time just peace of mind that their camera was actually off, instead of having to find the sometimes hard to see options in video chat programs etc.

That is what I like with the Lenovo webcams in T480s and probably later versions. They have a small slider with the camera protection "glass" build in which can cover the camera and will "show" a red dot if it's covered.

Post by Wingman4l7 » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:20 AM UTC

pfranz wrote: post #671

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The handy-dandy T2 also helps to soft-brick laptops, destroying that pesky second-hand market! Poor Apple had already destroyed that for iPhones and iPads but just couldn't do it for their laptops, until now ! https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akw558/apples-t2-security...

I think it's a bit overstating that it destroys the secondhand market. I still see non-working Macs on ebay for hundreds of dollars. The resale value of a well-maintained Mac continues to be much higher than any other brand. These kinds of changes have also made great strides in reducing the incentive to steal phones. There was a specific update that the NYPD pointed out reduced iPhone thefts significantly. But, I do…

Post by yyyk » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:24 AM UTC

pfranz wrote: post #686

soulofmischief wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you back this claim with references?

The other comment says there are dozens in this thread...I haven't seen anything specific mentioned. But, I remember reading something a year or two ago[1] that's not solidly sourced (it'd be great if Apple posted something on their website like they did about microphones [2]) > All cameras after that one were different: The hardware team tied the LED to a hardware signal from the sensor: If the (I believe) vertical…

Post by arrrg » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 7:28 AM UTC

abstrakraft wrote: post #650

hyko wrote: post #125

Here’s the document explaining how it’s physically impossible to use the microphone when the MacBook lid is closed: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/secbbd20b00b/... Where is the equivalent document explaining how it’s physically impossible for the camera to be active without the green LED lighting up?

They also claim that if you add a (MFI-compliant) case to the iPad, and close it, that this similarly disconnects the microphone. The simplest mechanism to do this sounds complicated enough that it reduces my confidence in the mechanism. The point of half the comments in this thread is that a hardware interlock mechanism needs to be dead simple. This sounds like a step in the wrong direction.