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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

#901

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to use some operating system at the end of the day, and vulnerabilities can impact any of them. You might as well trust Apple as much as the next company, since all of them are liable for millions of lines of code, and it's likely they all presently have undiscovered vulnerabilities.

Why trust a company at all when you don't have to? Linux, the BSDs, etc.

They probably have a lot of vulnerabilities as well.

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

#903

This happened to me. Twice. I bought a 16" mbp when it was released because the keyboard of the previous mbp gave me carpal tunnel. I immediately added a camera cover like I always had done on macs. My screen stopped working a few days later, but mbp still worked on my external monitor. I took it in and they replaced the display for free via applecare. Once I got my mbp back, I added the camera cover again (stupidly)…

We had to issue an internal notice to our 16" recipients after the first cases started coming in a few months ago. The second most common damage is pressure from pinching the screen to the bottom case during a one-handed pickup. A good squeeze walking between meetings is enough to crack it.

The latest MBPs are exceedingly fragile, can't run two displays from separate TB controllers without throttling, and have had more DOA batteries than any series I've ever encountered to date. This isn't even getting into other models.

How powerless is their QA that they'd let Operations dictate design unchecked? It feels like externalising their expenses taken a leap too far.

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

#904
post #825

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of cover was this? My company provides a ~1.2mm thick plastic cover with a little slider inside. I didn't even trust it enough to be used on a thinkpad, much less a macbook What I do now is either ripping off a small piece of the sticky top of sticky notes (keep the remainder for later reuse) or a piece of washi tape.

Post-it Page Markers or Flags work great as well and are already the correct size for most laptops.

You mean the small plastic strips? I mix 3 colors on top of each other and snip off the non-adhesive end. Works great, even looks ok, with minimal raised surface.

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

#905
post #881

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you manage to find a vulnerability in this system, I don't think I even mind, because you've also broken physics and very possibly found a way to generate unlimited electricity forever Or your LED might be broken.

If the LED is broken, so is the camera.

The LED circuit is likely wired in parallel with the camera. It could fail and the camera would still get power.

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

#906

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you feel that way? I enjoy the peace of mind and lack of a notch on my screen. It's designed and advertised as a feature, not an oversight.

There's a lot more moving parts to go wrong.

I'd rather take that risk than have some dumbass notch blocking the screen.

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

#909

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…

I used to work at Discord. There's a reason virtually every Trust and Safety (the division that handles online harassment cases) Associate has a physical covering over their webcam.

Regardless of how bad actors are accessing these photos, its eminently obvious that people are getting webcam photos of them taken without their knowledge.

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

#910
post #900

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it odd that you argue with the 'in the last 10 years' statement with a thing from 2008

Skepticism is healthy.

So is trust. You can’t possibly audit the source of every piece of software that touches your life, even if all of it were open source. Hell, things like Heartbleed or Shellshock sat in OpenSSL / Bash for 5-10 years.
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