Thought your webcam was secure? Think again!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Wouldn't it be juicy stuff if it were true that no one has absolute privacy, that 'they' are watching you 24/7, every goddam thing you do. Not only 'they' but every freaky pervert looking for something/one to get off on. I don't doubt it occurs but its puny stuff compared to other indignities taken upon us poor suckers every second of every day. Roll with it because if it is not physical it cant really harm you.

reply to post by Advantage




The electrical tape is a good idea, as is using secure operating systems. And not wearing your husband's drawers.

Now you know why I do not have a "Webcam".
Riddle me this, skype me that.

S&F

Old news. Really think a LED activates only when recording. It is just a few bytes of info that can be manipulated. Some think it is some sort of magical law that all webcams follow. Pfft. wake up. /.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I wonder if disabling the drivers in device manager of both the webcam and mic when not needed, will prevent hackers or the government to nonetheless use it?

Any suggestions on this?

Why would they want to watch someone staring at a screen typing? And what "smart" criminal would do illegal acts or discuss illegal acts in front of a computer with a webcam?

It seems a bit paranoid to me.

I think, in this day and age, anyone who thinks ANT computer system is secure is probably sadly mistaken.
I am sure the manufacturers of hardware and software in general and commercial use have backdoors built in at the request of the governments who want to watch us. Thus, using fancy long and random passwords on any data receiving and transmitting device is pointless.

The thing is, all this surveillance is BIG business. There is money being thrown at the private sector and new companies starting up all the time to get a piece of the pie. What with all the alphabet agencies with their compartmentalized setups, mass surveillance and spying, nothing is safe and the paranoid ones are the people who order it, to spy on us, not the ordinary people who discuss it and object to it.

In the US especially, with it's massive budgets for surveillance, and it's government funded contractors, there are fortunes to be made, all in the name of control. Of course, in order to keep the money flowing, these recipients of the funding need to show something for the money, and so they start watching ordinary people, small protest groups, journalists, anyone on the net discussing anything in any way critical of the system in place. They then label these people being watched as potential domestic terrorists or some other whacky title. I think they just get their jollies thinking they are doing something important to protect the "Homeland". How very 1960's STASI like of them!

Shuye
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I wonder if disabling the drivers in device manager of both the webcam and mic when not needed, will prevent hackers or the government to nonetheless use it?

Any suggestions on this?

Possibly, but it doesn't matter anyway as they can reconstruct everything on your monitor using a directional antenna that picks up unique radio frequency waves.

cryptome.org...

cuckooold

Possibly, but it doesn't matter anyway as they can reconstruct everything on your monitor using a directional antenna that picks up unique radio frequency waves.

Not so much with LCDs. That's dandy for CRTs though.

reply to post by Bedlam


Is it possible to do something similar with LCD monitors?

So what are they really going to see. Someone reading and typing? Sounds like being a peeping tom is now legal. No more typing naked people! Or am I hearing that even if your computer is off they can see and/or hear through it? If they are also listening, and have the ability to get inside anyone's house that's just not ok.

How effective can this be? How many secret terrorists are in the US? Not many. Most extremist groups are well known by the FBI. Are they profiling with this (and what does that consist of)? Where has the brain power gone with detective work. I fear those running this whole shenanigan are well below the capacity to pass an IQ test with an average score. Sad state of affairs when they waste time and money on this - using terrorism as an excuse. A bunch of perves IMO.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


In order to do something like this, there's a varying degree of difficulty. No two webcams are created the same. Some of those little lights are hardwired into the same wiring the little CCD camera is, so it's impossible to have one work without the other no matter how you spin it. Some cameras of course, are built differently where there's a little registry setting that tells the light to turn on when the camera is used. Some cameras have to be firmware flashed in order to be able to record without the light. And that firmware has to be custom built around the camera in question.

It's all rather phooey to me. Granted, I'm sure it might be worth the trouble in some cases, but overall I think it's just sheer paranoia on our part. Either plug out your camera or use tape if it's built into your laptop. Problem solved.

cuckooold
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Is it possible to do something similar with LCD monitors?

I've never seen it done with LCDs. Without an electron beam to "listen" to, it's tough to van Eck it, and you can't even do the trick where you look at something reflective in the room with a telescope.

CRTs were so convenient. Sort of like Selectrics back in the day.

MystikMushroom
Why would they want to watch someone staring at a screen typing? And what "smart" criminal would do illegal acts or discuss illegal acts in front of a computer with a webcam?

It seems a bit paranoid to me.

People discuss actions infront of networked devices all the time, just look at cell phones. If the government ever becomes truly draconian and authoritative the tools are in place for a nation that would make people like Stalin and Kim Jong Il jealous.

If you want something it could be justified for today, take snapshots of everyones homes, run them through some image recognition software to look for drug paraphernalia, flag the images that look suspicious, then let law enforcement look at them and use them as justification for warrants on people. That's a quick way to fill the prisons up for a bit.

reply to post by rickymouse


My computer has a built in web cam. I wasn't aware of it when I bought it. I never use the webcam. Don't use my computer much anymore either. The webcam/ computer is in a boring room with a boring view of a blank wall.

I wonder if tablets or iPads can be activated on the front facing camera, since tablets are more common to use now. If they've been doing it to computers for years, no doubt they are on tablets or smartphones. I don't buy the find my iPhone app is designed to help the user locate their device. It contains remote function features.

Same with the mics?

I really don't get what there is to see in front of a computer.i think there's more to see or hear inside of a car. Where criminals might have a secret meeting. Might be why all the new vehicles have those back up cameras installed now. There might be cameras hidden in all sorts of electronic devices, lamposts or telephone poles.

If you don't want what you're saying heard, you have the tv or radio on as background noise to confuse what's being said.

cuckooold
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Is it possible to do something similar with LCD monitors?

No because with CRTs they pick up the electrical noise coming from the line output transformer which is in the order of 20,000 volts for colour TV monitors.A famous spy case back in 1980s they had a van parked outside the guys house and got enough information off his screen they were able to convict him using it (I think!!!).But you will never ever ever see a perfect rendition of what's on the actual monitor,all we're doing it trying to re-assemble electrical noise that will be mixed up with all sorts of other urban noise.The image at best will be very blurred and fragmented and will have trouble staying still and we will struggle to get any usable information from it.

If you've still got one of those old fashioned TVs in your house that weighs more than a Cadillac,switch it on and if you've also got access to a portable radio with MW/AM on it walk up to it holding the radio.That horrible noise you can hear that gets louder the closer you get is what can be picked up by the right equipment and as I mentioned above can be re-assembled into a rough approximation on what's on the screen.

LCD screens work on about 5 volts (a guess here) and with modern electromagnetic compatibilty laws being what they are,it probably wouldn't be able to put out any sort of noise more than a few centimetres or so away,the noise from a CRT can have a range of to about 10 metres.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


yknow i have a webcam on my laptop. but my laptop only serves as the main console. everything else is external. monitor, (yes lcd for starwises argument), keyboard, mouse.

but this can't be new news. and everyone who is covering their webcam eye with tape, what are you guilty of? i mean i read this topic thorougly last night and all these people are freaking about their privacy.

am i wrong if i say you only have to be paranoid or guilty of something if yer taping it up?

if i had one attached on top of the lcd, if i skyped or what have you, i think i'd leave the damn thing open unless i was involved ins omething the gov't didn't want me to do.

anyway thats what struck me as strange... our cell phones can be opened, webcams, . i go by the saying 'if man made it, man can break it'

Imagewerx

w8tn4it
reply to post by Starwise

 

By way, the did you know that an LED both transmits light as wall as receives it? Your computer screen is made of LED's. Sorry, not trying to scare you, just keeping you informed

edit on 3/2/13 by w8tn4it because: (no reason given)

I don't know of any computer screens that use LEDs to make the image.All the ones I've seen or read about are LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

Just to make it clear on this LCD point.
LED Tv's use LCD still.
The early LCD used CCFL(Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) tubes.

My laptop has a kill switch for the Wireless Network Card which switches it off hard/physically.

You could easily modify a kill switch for your laptop camera if you are really paranoid.

But as one user has stated here you have to install Malware for this camera hacking to work.

I remember back in my younger days fooling mates on ICQ and tricking them into installing Trojans.
eventually you could make it more believable by compiling the Trojan into the jpeg.
I miss them ICQ days Oh and Yahoo, MSN messenger days.