NSA Spy Cam Blocker • Hacker News Board

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#61

Post by MCRed » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 8:27 PM UTC

kevinnk wrote: post #16

peeters wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm OK with a bit of fear mongering if it means that warrantless spying actually becomes an election issue. These tactics have been used to go to war and substantially reduce individual rights; at least this is a cause I can somewhat get behind.

"I'm okay with the ends justifying the means when the ends are something I like."

When those means are merely exercising free speech rights it really isn't a case of ends justifying the means because there's no need to justify.

Free speech doesn't require justification. Plus they're using those free speech rights to keep people ware of a real crime that is being committed and real rights that are being violated.

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#62

Post by s_q_b » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 8:38 PM UTC

fyrabanks wrote: post #48

s_q_b wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have an array of microphones in your phone alone, not to mention the speakers, which are just low-fi mics. But in any case, you can do it with one microphone. E.g. http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/862.13/students/brandon/index... http://www.extremetech.com/computing/128735-microsoft-create...

That first technique A) is very audibly noticeable B) requires you to put the laptop on a chair and wheel it around the room to make up for the fact that you only have a single microphone. The second technique basically only understands gestures. I wouldn't be at all worried about this in the wild...

Someone actually did it to China's PLA Unit 61398 using a technique similar to this: http://www.gizmag.com/microphone-room-mapping-epfl/27985/, so I'd say it's worth worrying about in the wild.

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#63

Post by dogma1138 » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 9:09 PM UTC

To be fair that piece of plastic will be a much more effective NSA blocker than Rand Paul ever will.

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#64

Post by canvia » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 9:11 PM UTC

dataker wrote: post #7

If anyone is exploiting my system, microphone would be my top priority. Getting image doesn't really tell as much as listening to what, how and when you talk.

The mic would also record the sound of keystrokes.

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#65

Post by chaosfactor » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 9:50 PM UTC

rsync wrote: post #51

ceejayoz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Rand Paul cover is a campaign contribution . edit: Not sure why this is getting downvoted. The price difference is unlikely to have much to do with the physical costs involved. Political campaign stores typically have inflated prices as they're fundraising efforts.

Do not interrupt the discussion to meta-discuss the scoring. Do not question or comment about your own downvotes.

Hahaha is rsync's comment for real? Also, how meta can we get here?

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#66

Post by po1nter » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 9:54 PM UTC

Nice idea but I wish more manufacturers had something like this built into their laptops. An old ASUS of mine came with a sliding piece of plastic that you could use to cover the webcam[1] when not in use.

[1]:http://imgur.com/90X6PHF

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#67

Post by dTal » Tue, Apr 07, 2015, 10:56 PM UTC

s_q_b wrote: post #41

usefulcat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From multiple microphones, perhaps, but from a single microphone? Seems unlikely.

You have an array of microphones in your phone alone, not to mention the speakers, which are just low-fi mics. But in any case, you can do it with one microphone. E.g. http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/862.13/students/brandon/index... http://www.extremetech.com/computing/128735-microsoft-create...

Its unlikely the speakers can be used as microphones, as they will be wired up to D/A converters and not D/A converters.

Re: NSA Spy Cam Blocker

#68

Post by s_q_b » Thu, Apr 09, 2015, 7:11 PM UTC

kaolinite wrote: post #42

s_q_b wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you can activate the camera without activating the LED. The LED is not directly wired to the power supply.[0] [0] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/18... Edit in Reply: Not necessarily. It's probably still possible on modern Apple hardware, albeit with a lot of firmware hacking, according to the authors of the paper: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-use-i...

Well, not exactly. At one point you were able to, but the flaw has been fixed for over 5 years now. It affected cameras on some Macs sold between 2006 and 2009 I believe. Here's the paper describing the flaw: https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2...

Not necessarily. It's probably still possible on modern Apple hardware, albeit with a lot of firmware hacking, according to the authors of the paper: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/117937/how-to-use-i....