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Software Allows Hackers to Activate MacBook Webcams Without Green Warning Light

tcgjeukens said:
Years ago, when the (external) iSight was dropped in favour of the built in camera, I found a gadget manufacturer that offered an iPatch.
A small pieces of rubber that covered the lens.
That company may see sales moving forward.

Coen
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You sure that company wasn't selling you a revolutionary new product called "tape"?
 
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I dont understand one thing, lets say if the camera light is disabled but how can one take pic with no screen on and what could be the builtin software he will use in any MAC.
 
I used to watch this movie called, "I know what you did last summer" and boy..was that crazy...

People still think it' safe to trust apple? Quality of products became downgrade...what happened?...who knows...
 
longofest said:
Come on man! Go get your game on and try attracting said girls rather than creeping.
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Your in Falls Church... cool. I used to work for a courier company there... many many years ago. On Little Falls Street if I remember right. Seems like forever ago...

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I always thought that someone (read government here) would be much more interested in tapping the microphone than the camera. I think much more useful information can be gleamed from that. Hell, in the old days they would fret about placing a hidden mic somewhere, and hope it was close enough to where people were talking. Now, people walk around 24/7 with said mic in their pockets. There is a reason certain gov agencies do not allow you to enter the building with phones/etc.
 
tcgjeukens said:
Years ago, when the (external) iSight was dropped in favour of the built in camera, I found a gadget manufacturer that offered an iPatch.
A small pieces of rubber that covered the lens.
That company may see sales moving forward.

Coen
Click to expand...

I remember that I always wanted one.
 
Don't we just assume that the government sees everything anyway? And if some one got in to a webcam I would guess it would be hours of a close up on there face. And if you are so concerned why not close it when it's not a close up of you face?

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hkenneth said:
Software allows NSA hackers to activate x-ray to penetrate any cover on the camera.
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I don't think you can make a software that let's hardware do things it was never ever intended for like seeing past a solid object.
 
This gets me all paranoid. I literally picked up a piece of my square note papers, fold it and cover my camera right after I read the article. Even if I don't do anything dirty, I still don't want people to secretly watch me when I'm alone.
 
slffl said:
I would be A LOT more worried about someone accessing my HDD than my webcam. What are you people doing that you are so worried about being recorded? Do you also not go out in public?
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Do you really behave the same way when you are in public, when you are with close friends or family and when you are on your own? If so, a psychologist shold make a research paper on you, as you are a pretty unique case :rolleyes:.

And I guess you never pick your nose when you think nobody is looking... or do you mean you regularly do it right in front of other people? :D
 
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The circuit for the camera and the light should be connected as such that power to one is power to both and no amount of software can only enable one.

The camera's use should also be system-enforced. System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> Privacy tab. If an app wants to use location services, or your contacts, or calendars, or reminders, or accessibility features, the system warns you before and you have to specifically allow an app to use it. The camera should be treated similarly.

A friend brought up a great point that iPhones do not have a camera light. While I do not think apps using them can run in the background, I still think iOS should enforce its use similar to what I proposed for OS X above.
 
slffl said:
I would be A LOT more worried about someone accessing my HDD than my webcam. What are you people doing that you are so worried about being recorded? Do you also not go out in public?
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I don't know about you, but I'm sometimes masturbating.

Truth.
 
Most people don't use the camera in their laptops, instead they their phones, cameras, etc.

So it should not be a big deal to TAPE SOMETHING OVER THE CAMERA. Especially if you have girls!!!
 
needfx said:
tape up the cam. the only way to be safe :D
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That or keep your kit on when using the computer.

Can't say watching me type up essays and rant on macrumors is exciting stuff to get footage of.

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buysp said:
I can arrange for Apple to sell you a piece of tape for $30! :D
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Pretty much ay.
I'm sure there's more stylish solutions out there already.
 
I have always had little doubt this could be done. Almost all devices come "by default" with cameras and microphones. IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads can actually be ordered without cameras, which I think would be advantageous.

The idea of communicating with a loved one overseas or across the country is appealing, but I am probably one like many that do not have relatives that live a great distance away that are interested in video conferencing. ThinkPads will also let you disable the microphone and camera (and WiMax, WWAN, etc.) in the BIOS and the device no longer shows in Device Manager. On the surface this option seems like it would disable the camera, but this day in age, who knows.

The fact is, if the government wants to know something, they will find a way to get it and it would almost certainly be undetectable. If Mr. Snowden had not revealed the documents he did, everyone would still be in the dark about all of this and only speculating.

Considering the low bit-rate and compression that is used for telephone calls (in particular cellular) it would not take very much storage space to store days upon days of telephone conversations. If someone was deemed a person if interest, their telephone conversations could be recorded for years without much trouble.

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Clocknova said:
I don't know about you, but I'm sometimes masturbating.

Truth.
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Why are you doing that? Do you find your computer attractive?
 
That's really disturbing, I always assumed that the power to the camera and LED was hard-wired as a single circuit.
 
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