About a year ago I placed a small piece of thick cardboard over the webcam in my laptop. I felt very funny doing it. A strong part of me was saying “Oh, come on, there’s no way anyone could/would actually use this to spy on me. You’re being a paranoid, self-absorbed nerd.”
I did it anyway. I know technology well enough to know that what seems impossible today is very easy tomorrow. I also know how intrusive hackers and the government can be.
Well, sadly, I was right. People are now hacking into other’s computers, turning on their webcam and disabling the little light that comes on that shows the webcam is active. This guy even secretly recorded several women, including Miss Teen USA, by doing this. The FBI has even admitted they have done this to people.
Great. Just great.
We are entering an era where what would have been the ravings of a paranoid madman just five years ago has become real-life, normal fare. And it will get worse.
If you use a laptop with a built-in camera, physically cover that thing. You’re not being paranoid.
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Steven
Posted at 06:45 pm, 26th February 2014I covered up my laptop webcam with a piece of black electric tape….about five years ago, when I bought it.
You’re only paranoid, if you’re wrong.
Korg
Posted at 08:49 am, 27th February 2014Did you know, that a speaker and a microphone contain almost the same electronics, and that you can in fact use a speaker as a microphone (easy to test, just plug in some cheap speakers and speak in them).
So, in theory you could use your normal speakers to spy on any conversations.
Caleb Jones
Posted at 09:44 am, 27th February 2014I still use my camera sometimes for Skype video calls, so I have a small piece of cardboard with scotch tape that I can remove. I really need a better system though.