Even if we're doing "mundane" everyday things like cooking dinner, reading a book or doing laundry it's still an invasion of privacy. When we're in our own home we don't want to be watched. We want our peace and private time. If people have nothing better to do then watch others do even everyday stuff then they need to get a life and a real job. Also it's just creepy.
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Software Allows Hackers to Activate MacBook Webcams Without Green Warning Light
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Even if we're doing "mundane" everyday things like cooking dinner, reading a book or doing laundry it's still an invasion of privacy. When we're in our own home we don't want to be watched. We want our peace and private time. If people have nothing better to do then watch others do even everyday stuff then they need to get a life and a real job. Also it's just creepy.
What kinds of things do you have on your HDD?
Unless you meant just because of the write privileges. I'm fine with read-only access.What if you get out of the shower, you're naked, and you walk in front of your Mac?
Someone mentioned something like this, but if its such a big concern, why don't they just wire the light into the power for the camera? Then there's no question. If the camera has power, you see a green light. No way to trick that with software if its wired correctly.
Why is it "likely"?
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I have wondered that for a while. It seems like it ought to be easy to do.
Don't do that, it isn't ethical, and in your state it might be illegal. If you're going to do it, just put a small piece of electrical tape on the green dot.
Using tape, is the easiest but worst solution. Surely security can fix this without trouble. I don't think people care that much about taking hours of security footage just to try and blackmail someone with nudes. Though, if it was a celebrity/richmeathead, then you've got some reasoning / bargaining power.
Here's the most informative post/discussion I've found on the topic of the green light and camera: http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/141508/
Even if the green LED were hard-wired in series with the power going to the camera chip, a Bad Guy who managed to hack your machine could still take snapshots of such brevity that you probably could not see the LED blink.
If this whole thing is a concern to you, do the tape trick. But I'd suggest using a translucent tape since the Ambient Light Sensor is adjacent to the iSight camera in at least most models.
And while you're at it, get a plastic "dead plug" to cut off the microphone.
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Update: Ars has a nifty discussion, complete with schematic. http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/perv-utopia-light-on-macbook-webcams-can-be-bypassed/
The good news: the LED is hard-wired to the camera's enable line.
The bad news: It's possible, on some older Macs, to reprogram the camera so it disregards the enable line.
Even if the green LED were hard-wired in series with the power going to the camera chip, a Bad Guy who managed to hack your machine could still take snapshots of such brevity that you probably could not see the LED blink.
If this whole thing is a concern to you, do the tape trick. But I'd suggest using a translucent tape since the Ambient Light Sensor is adjacent to the iSight camera in at least most models.
And while you're at it, get a plastic "dead plug" to cut off the microphone.
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Update: Ars has a nifty discussion, complete with schematic. http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/perv-utopia-light-on-macbook-webcams-can-be-bypassed/
The good news: the LED is hard-wired to the camera's enable line.
The bad news: It's possible, on some older Macs, to reprogram the camera so it disregards the enable line.
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There's a script I use at the med school i work at for the gross anatomy lab iMacs that disables the webcam.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23346/isight-disabler
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23346/isight-disabler
If you have a script that disables the camera, someone has one that reenables it...
Love everyone saying it doesn't matter because they're old or hairy or overweight. Welcome to the internet! Much like there is an app for just about everything, there is also a fetish site for just about everybody. And how comfortable do you feel about your teen daughter being on cam, becoming an online sensation, getting recognized and having it hurt her future job prospects? Some school districts have pretty strict zero-tolerance policies. I saw a teacher get fired back in the day for having a photo of her in a bikini on her MySpace. The whole situation just isn't good.
I'm thinking about buying a sliding shutter for the camera on my Xbox One. It's always staring at us in our living room!
I'm thinking about buying a sliding shutter for the camera on my Xbox One. It's always staring at us in our living room!
Well, let's use our heads here, and maybe try reading. Yes, you can re-enable it, but it requires ADMIN PRIVILEGES TO DO SO. If you are so compromised that someone can use your credentials you have way worse problems. It disabled the driver itself. Man, you people here. Ridiculous. Good job, newbie.
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If you really want to sit and watch me stare at my screen, have at it.
Hence, "cocky". *growl*
Hey Tim: I don't like the tape idea.
Have the boys down in Design, create a little plastic clip that fits over the camera and ship a ton of them to every apple store. Anyone who wants one could just walk in a grab one for free.
If they are not near an Apple store, they can order one online for .99 to pay for shipping. About an extra million people would walk into an Apple store.
Have the boys down in Design, create a little plastic clip that fits over the camera and ship a ton of them to every apple store. Anyone who wants one could just walk in a grab one for free.
If they are not near an Apple store, they can order one online for .99 to pay for shipping. About an extra million people would walk into an Apple store.
Nasty....
uses of hacking prowess.....But seeing the hack per se, sounds like a good work separating the hardware and software components of a problem. I am not so fond of cameras. And now a little more...............
uses of hacking prowess.....But seeing the hack per se, sounds like a good work separating the hardware and software components of a problem. I am not so fond of cameras. And now a little more.....
..........OSX 10.9.2
Includes: April Fools Kit
- Turns on green camera light on April 1st for the entire day. Freaks people out and gets people talking about Apple in the media.
Would be so awesome!
My (second) iSight camera already does this randomly for some reason, probably because it was purchased from the Salvation Army.
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Nice, but someone could reverse that. Best to not get hacked in the first place. I'm assuming the malicious modification required sudo privileges to execute.
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damn those female students with their hilarious post-its at the library on campus were right all along
Best comment here. Gotta admit that we got owned.
...BUT if my laptop was recording me, I'd know. It's a 2006 MacBook. It's not going to use its camera without the fans spinning so fast that I hear them distinctly. And those girls are probably easier to be tricked into downloading trojans.
The camera and the LED should be wired together at the hardware level. I guess it's cheaper to do from software, but it's more vulnerable to hacking.