My laptop camera came on by itself recently...was it a hacker or some facial recognition scan?

Thanks for all of the replies on how to disable. I have nothing to hide but privacy is still a right, is it not? It actually came on twice over two successive days and has not come on since. It may be that I stopped it when I ran a thorough scan after I saw that "others were logged on to my computer" when I went to shut it off a week ago to allow some updates to be uploaded. That ("others are logged on....") always makes me uncomfortable and the two issues are probably related....but generally hackers and hijackers arent curious what you look like I wouldnt think (just looking for passwords to your bank info, etc) and with all of the facial recognition sw (and being a member of this site) it was worth asking if anyone else had that happen (and I see that it has!).

Put a small tape or velcro cover so you can use the cam when you want and not when others/someone/somethings want

laptops have removeable batteries, when not in use, simply remove battery. remember that anyone trying to spy on you, needs to have your devices powered up. simplest form of privacy. i am using a computer that has no camera and no microphone, no device, no spying. the "disconnecting of hardware" is your friend

Originally posted by CosmicCitizen
I dont want to sound paranoid but my pc camera turned on by itself recently while I was online. I have never used a web cam (built-in like this or otherwise). I am wondering if someone was hacking me or even some nsa program to capture facial recognition features for posting on this site. Is that possible? Has this happened to anyone else on this site? Not paranoid - just puzzled.

Your laptops broken

I think there are things to be worried about. Especially the way our government has been spying on us.

I have a laptop running WIN8 and IE10. I know more that once I heard the camera snap a picture. I checked running processes and the camera was not on. I now have tape over the camera. It still snaps once in a while.

Don't mean to scare you, but please look up RATters.

RAT stands for remote administration toolkit, and it's a lot more common that people think. For example, if a ratter manages to infect a persons computer and get naked pictures of them of credit card details they've just hit blackmail jackpot.

Considering that there are more computer specialists in certain countries than there are computer jobs it's actually quite a large danger. You don't need to be special or famous for this to happen to you, and there are forums entirely based on this rather questionable hobby.

If you're running windows you can open a command terminal window and use the command netstat -b to view connections and ports used by executables, or use netstat -ano to look for established ports that aren't expected. It can be a good idea to close down all messengers and browsers before doing this so you don't panic about your own messenger or web browser being open.

This is a pretty old and fairly straight forward technique to look at traffic in and out, and there are many much better guides and videos around regarding looking after your internet security than I could write here. Internet hypochondria can happen if you shovel too deep into it I suppose.

I keep myself saneish by keeping any details I absolutely need to record encrypted using something like Keepass at least, and not standing naked in front of anything with a lens. If I have to do banking I do it on a machine that I only use for that purpose. I also wipe my machines away regularlyish.

Often tool kits are distributed with cracks for software, torrents, via spam emails and all the usual types of things; so if you've been indulging yourself in that area you might be carrying something.

A lot of persons will say that it doesn't happen that often or the danger is exaggerated, but a large part of that is if a hacker deploys several hundred tool kits they're only looking for one pay day at a time. A person can carry a RAT and simply not be in the same time zone as the hacker to become a victim.

Don't go too crazy I suppose, but it's best to play safe and feel happy than worry about it or regret it.

Site note: ja I have seen things happen to people! And ick! Necro thread >.<

Originally posted by Avgudar
They can do that these days. Tape it over or turn it around. You should also think about ripping out the microphone if you have on built-in. Also, format your computer.

Ripping out the laptops microphone won't do squat. The speakers can also be used as a microphone. Speakers used as microphones are actually more sensitive and pick up a wider frequency range. Try wiring an input cable to an old speaker and try it.

I'm pretty sure they're able to use those speakers as mic's also.

Constantly formatting your hard drive throws flags. Every single time you format your Hard Drive it is assigned a Serial Number called a "UUID", the ID is made up of the date/time/location you re-formatted your hard drive. They could actually track how many times and when you keep formatting drives.


It's 100% impossible to be secure today. If you want to put a smile on the hackers face take the laptops webcam out of the screen and run it into a small cardboard box. Have it aiming at a picture of.....a butt.

reply to post by CosmicCitizen


That is interesting mine did the same a while back so what I did was to uninstall program, no more problems.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


My computer had that virus, it was a pain in the butt to get rid of it, I could not use the computer as it hijacked the computer completely wanting me to pay for the fee, to unlock, with trail an error I got rid of the crap without having to take it to a computer place.

reply to post by CosmicCitizen


Geez, you're a bit paranoid.. How about we look at the more possible explanations like you accidentally clicked it or that it just open by its self. Like it was updating.

reply to post by Pervius


Can you show some proof on how speakers are microphones? I would like to know how its possible.

If you could see the light or some other indication that someone is accessing your webcam, they are rank amateurs.

If some alphabet agency has you under surveillance you will most likely never know, unless they want you to.

I'd take a guess and say your notebook has been infected by this -

www.geeksquad.com...

I've been cleaning it off of PC's everywhere lately. I generally use Combofix followed by a Malwarebytes scan.

if your webcam light turned on by itself then it's hacked .. try to download a software cause it is the easiest , most effective way to protect yourself from hackers . i am using this lutin.weebly.com... it works perfectly for me .

a reply to: CosmicCitizen

resistsurveillance.org...

I run the Detekt tool about once a month. I've read lots of decent things about it. It's geared mainly toward surveillance malware. It's a free tool and at the least, gives a bit of peace of mind. There are several IT sources that speak for the software, from PC world to even Amnesty.org.

Hopefully this can help put you at ease.