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Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

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Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#81

Post by stcredzero »

jrockway wrote: post #29

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. I used to have this Windows box at work that would always make sounds for no reason, even though the sound was muted. The solution was to open it up and physically disconnect the speaker. Never made a sound again. If you don't want your computer to be used as a listening device, first try adjusting your tinfoil hat. If you're still worried, open it up and rem…

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery.

There might be a Kickstarter product in this. Simply devise a magnetic activation switch for the microphone. I've opened up multiple 13" Macbook Pro laptops, so I know how little space is in that corner where the microphone and magsafe socket board is, but there is enough.

Perhaps even better: a microphone that has a deactivation pin which can be pulled with a pair of tweezers. A service would solder this in place for you, and the laptop could be used with no internal microphone. Then, when it was time for you to sell the laptop, you simply open the case and pull the pin out of the back of the microphone, reactivating it. You could even construct this out of the same microphone element as used in the macbook. Just have the pin short across the mic capsule's terminals.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#82

Post by meepmorp »

Argorak wrote: post #16
jsilence wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about this one. Fiddling a little bit, I'd rather say that there is a light sensor left of the camera. Blanking only the camera does nothing, blanking the spot just left of it triggers the backlight dimming.

To be precise: in old macbook pro versions, the sensor was in the speakers. The unibody macbook moved it next to the camera: http://osxdaily.com/2010/05/22/where-is-the-ambient-light-se...

Yeah, this used to cause trouble for me at work. The way my office was lit, moving my hands too far over the (right?) speaker would suddenly change the kb lights and screen brightness. Turned the auto brightness after a couple hours and never re-enabled it.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#84

Post by [deleted] »

batista wrote: post #50
jrockway wrote: post #29

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. I used to have this Windows box at work that would always make sounds for no reason, even though the sound was muted. The solution was to open it up and physically disconnect the speaker. Never made a sound again. If you don't want your computer to be used as a listening device, first try adjusting your tinfoil hat. If you're still worried, open it up and rem…

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. Me too -but in a more literal way. Sorry for the downvotable comment, but cannot resist a pun, especially when it kinda makes my actual point. The thing is, whether the MBP is "always listening" or not is of little consequence, in an age when we know that governments look into the wires, have taps into ISPs and can listen to any and all mobile phone conversat…

[deleted]

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#85

Post by marchdown »

batista wrote: post #50
jrockway wrote: post #29

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. I used to have this Windows box at work that would always make sounds for no reason, even though the sound was muted. The solution was to open it up and physically disconnect the speaker. Never made a sound again. If you don't want your computer to be used as a listening device, first try adjusting your tinfoil hat. If you're still worried, open it up and rem…

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. Me too -but in a more literal way. Sorry for the downvotable comment, but cannot resist a pun, especially when it kinda makes my actual point. The thing is, whether the MBP is "always listening" or not is of little consequence, in an age when we know that governments look into the wires, have taps into ISPs and can listen to any and all mobile phone conversat…

They can eavesdrop on encrypted mobile phone connections? Do you have a solid source on that?

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#86

Post by kgo »

jwr wrote: post #37

Every microphone in every powered device must be considered as listening if you are serious about security at all. So what if the panel actually even disabled the mic preamp on the board? You could have a program/virus/trojan that silently re-enabled it behind your back, without you knowing. So I'd say this is nothing to be concerned about, because every device you own potentially "listens" with its microphones all t…

I believe the LED that tells you your MacBook's camera is on is hard-wired into the motherboard, for the very purpose of making it impossible to covertly enable the camera via software. A similar approach could be used for a mic.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#87

Post by runjake »

marchdown wrote: post #85
batista wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. Me too -but in a more literal way. Sorry for the downvotable comment, but cannot resist a pun, especially when it kinda makes my actual point. The thing is, whether the MBP is "always listening" or not is of little consequence, in an age when we know that governments look into the wires, have taps into ISPs and can listen to any and all mobile phone conversat…

They can eavesdrop on encrypted mobile phone connections? Do you have a solid source on that?

For starters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Klein

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gsm#GSM_service_security

  GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security.
  The A5/1 and A5/2 stream ciphers are used for ensuring 
  over-the-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first 
  and is a stronger algorithm used within Europe and the 
  United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other 
  countries. Serious weaknesses have been found in both 
  algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in real-time 
  with a ciphertext-only attack, and in January 2007, The 
  Hacker's Choice started the A5/1 cracking project with 
  plans to use FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a 
  rainbow table attack.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#88

Post by jacquesm »

bradleyland wrote: post #61
finnw wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There. Now you just have to worry about the bugs the Agents put all over your house. Physical bugs are expensive. Malware is cheap.

If you're after a specific individual, a far better target than their computer would be their cell phone. Computers are complex and stationary. Cell phones are eminently more susceptible to this type of attack because the government can compel carriers to use technology that is already in place. No malware package required. Working in telecom was enlightening for me. There's a feature called "executive barge in" that…

It is possible to use a phone as an eavesdropping device even when it is on-hook:

http://www.euronet.nl/~rembert/echelon/muren/index.html#floo... (dutch)

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#90

Post by LogicHoleFlaw »

maukdaddy wrote: post #28
Aqua_Geek wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I was going to suggest using something like Soundflower to create a fake sound input device, but at the end of the day it's still a software thing that can be overridden. If you're really paranoid, you could always remove the mic with a soldering iron... =)

That's exactly what's done with cameras and microphones in high-security environments.

Yep, my father used to work in high-security (think live nuclear sites)... the standard answer was to use a drill press to ream out any camera lenses on cell phones that needed to be on-site.
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