FBI Can Secretly Activate Laptop Cameras Without Indicator Light

[rgray222]

There must be a point where people wake up and say....... just because you can do something in the name of "national security" you should not do it. Yet many people seem almost content (or at least ambivalent) to allow government to intrude into our lives further and further with each passing day. Limiting the power of government is the only way to insure our sovereign freedoms are not removed one brick at a time.

Souce: Gizmodo (http://www.gizmodo.in/news/FBI-can-secretly-activate-laptop-cameras-without-the-indicator-light/articleshow/26994097.cms)

Scary. Insane. Ridiculous. Invasive. Wrong. The Washington Post reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/2013/12/06/352ba174-5397-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html) that the FBI has had the ability to secretly activate a computer's camera "without triggering the light that lets users know it is recording" for years now. What in the hell is going on? What kind of world do we live in?

Marcus Thomas, the former assistant director of the FBI's Operational Technology Division, told the Post that that sort of creepy spy laptop recording is "mainly" used in terrorism cases or the "most serious" of criminal investigations. That doesn't really make it less crazy (or any better) since the very idea of the FBI being able to watch you through your computer is absolutely disturbing.

The whole Post piece about the FBI's search for a bomb threat suspect is worth reading. It shows how far the FBI will go with its use of malware to spy on people and reveals the occasional brain dead mistakes the FBI makes to screw themselves over (like a typo of an e-mail address that the FBI wanted to keep tabs on). Good to know these completely competent folks are watching over us by any means necessary.

[Anchor]

I have a piece of opaque plastic electricians insulation tape over mine for about a year now, and my wife has had the same on hers since she bought it a few years ago.

[Flash]

what about the sounds from your house? they can be heard even if the camera is not showing anything. And everything you look at tracked.

I think this is quite worthless to fight back at that level, although I would put on tape on mine too, lets not facilitate their job. lol

[Anchor]

what about the sounds from your house? they can be heard even if the camera is not showing anything. And everything you look at tracked.

I think this is quite worthless to fight back at that level, although I would put on tape on mine too, lets not facilitate their job. lol

A lot of the time the internet connection here is only just good enough for posting on Avalon and other text based forums; but yes if they can turn the camera on they can turn the microphone on, and the bandwidth for sound is a lot less than for video.

[AwakeInADream]

There are cameras and microphones on everything now. My mobile phone never leaves my side. I could easiliy be under constant surveillance. :eek:

It's a good job I spent most of my time in silent thought, although they can probably listen in on that now too...

edit: And yes, I have the tape over my camera too. lol

[Milneman]

Warning....Off Topic....Kind of....

Knowing the cameras can be activated without our control, or warning, aren't you in the least tempted to try something like this...just because... every agent needs a little loving...in their cubicle...uuuuuuhm....

W6DmHGYy_xk

[Sidney]

I keep a bandaid over my laptop camera at all times.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

What's scary about this endless policing, is that the agents responsible also have human failings. Many of them are no better than any of us and even use these devices to spy on their own loved ones.

Therefore in a few years Microsoft et al will probably take over America and provide an AI to substitute for all law enforcement, judicial, and medical needs (lol).
Human emotions will no longer be a factor in justice or learning or medicine. We will live in a sterile environment with unimaginable stressors.

The only human element remaining will be delegated to the weapons systems that "clean up" the last human mess. I.e. drones and nukes, that sort of thing, lmao.

Think maybe the corporations are intentionally bankrupting our government to hasten the corporate takeover?
Could some of them in fact be behind the "laws" that allow these agencies to abuse the public?

There are certainly some moral absolutes that may justify watching someone on a webcam without consent, you guys know that -- but on the other hand, morals and laws in particular are subjective, and what is right to you and your political-religious group might be "wrong" to the government, like Falun Gong in China.

When harmlessness is a threat, you know that you live in a warlike bloodthirsty capitalist society... duh

[Bob]

http://www.gizmodo.in/searchresult.cms?query=fbi+camera
thats - http://www.gizmodo.in/searchresult.cms?query=fbi+camera does turn up some interesting searches there..

[Vitalux]

I was kind of wondering :rolleyes: where those porn sites where getting so much cheesy porn captured via laptop computers.

You won't catch me with my pants down :nono:

[seehas]

in the year 1998 i could activate and record a microphone via a trojan-virus so im not realy surprized by that "news" the only thing that changed is you wont notice the bandwith the trojan uses because u got much more than u need.

also its possible to see your computers display in realtime by receiving its radiowaves and decoding it - the display itself is on its own frequency.

[Lifebringer]

My hubby looked at me like I was paranoid about two years ago, when I duck taped mine. I told him I don't Skype and if I wanted pictures I have a phone or camera. No need to have this eye looking at me.

[seehas]

My hubby looked at me like I was paranoid about two years ago, when I duck taped mine. I told him I don't Skype and if I wanted pictures I have a phone or camera. No need to have this eye looking at me.

you seem to be a weirdo that got something to hide ! :p

[Violet]

My hubby looked at me like I was paranoid about two years ago, when I duck taped mine. I told him I don't Skype and if I wanted pictures I have a phone or camera. No need to have this eye looking at me.


And they're probably going like: what does she think she has that we've not seen before...

[Heartsong]

I kinda feel sorry for the poor gov'ment employee who has me as an assignment. ...Sixty three years old, same ol' husband for 43 years. No pets. Just a few close friends. Retired. Flower Garden. I do sing but no even that would make me interesting. (Might scare 'em off though.)

Let's have some sympathy for those folks who are just trying to make a living. It's probably not what they went to school for. Certainly not what their mother's dreamed for them. They probably just fell into this personal surveillance thing as an alternative to Unemployment. It would be almost as bad as looking at naked bodies all day at airport security.

Most peoples' lives are just incredibly boring. Would you be happy watching a bouncing view of the world from someones mobile all day?

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Well, no one made them apply for those jobs.

:( imo

"the devil invades your gratitude" ~iron maiden!

[Tangri]

I kinda feel sorry for the poor gov'ment employee who has me as an assignment. ...Sixty three years old, same ol' husband for 43 years. No pets. Just a few close friends. Retired. Flower Garden. I do sing but no even that would make me interesting. (Might scare 'em off though.)

Let's have some sympathy for those folks who are just trying to make a living. It's probably not what they went to school for. Certainly not what their mother's dreamed for them. They probably just fell into this personal surveillance thing as an alternative to Unemployment. It would be almost as bad as looking at naked bodies all day at airport security.

Most peoples' lives are just incredibly boring. Would you be happy watching a bouncing view of the world from someones mobile all day?

I believe they are not interested in watching you consistently, unless you did or said was filtered earlier. Everybody thinks, some staff sitting and monitoring everyone nope but those(watching/listening) are necessary for face/voice recognition for AI.

[Milneman]

Well if anyone else is interested, I just hung my "wrecking ball"....yooo hooo mister FBI agent....

[Mike]

Sure, it is disturbing. But guys, just stop for a moment and consider the manpower required for such a maneuver to be truly invasive on a large scale. The FBI doesn't have underground bases filled with tens of thousands of agents monitoring random computer screens! Even if they hypothetically had a team of 1000 men and women dedicated to this one task, they couldn't even effectively monitor a small housing development.

No one is watching you. You're not that important!

[MorningFox]

I kinda feel sorry for the poor gov'ment employee who has me as an assignment. ...Sixty three years old, same ol' husband for 43 years. No pets. Just a few close friends. Retired. Flower Garden. I do sing but no even that would make me interesting.

I think we have to be real here and realise that while it's obvious they have the power to do this, they aren't watching everyone all the time. That's just silly.

I imagine Mr Julian Assange, Michael Tellinger, people of similar position are being watched, almost no doubt, but it's very doubtful that they'd have any interest in you or I.


No one is watching you. You're not that important!

^ this.

[Agape]

Sure, it is disturbing. But guys, just stop for a moment and consider the manpower required for such a maneuver to be truly invasive on a large scale. The FBI doesn't have underground bases filled with tens of thousands of agents monitoring random computer screens! Even if they hypothetically had a team of 1000 men and women dedicated to this one task, they couldn't even effectively monitor a small housing development.

No one is watching you. You're not that important!

And to extend the thought ... well , it's not worth the extension. Cases like home abuse and violence , you know , when you really wish someone's been watching but buggers , there's no human capacity to cover the plot .

I had a friend ( former PA member ) at certain times with whom we'd leave Skype on .. though we'd each do our thing , except for exchanging comments now n then ,
we called it 'intelligent household' .

While microphones on laptop are able to pick up sound from around the floor ..the camera is very poor tool unless full light is on so there has to be 'double permission' from the user to let yourself being seen . What it means ...even if someone's out there and watching , they'd not enjoy such a creepy poor view .


:ranger:

[Flash]

your were listening throught Skype Agape, not through sophisticated technologies. i think that the general listening is through our laptops etc, but when comes more interesting stuff to the illuminatis directly more sophisticated means are used

[Agape]

your were listening throught Skype Agape, not through sophisticated technologies. i think that the general listening is through our laptops etc, but when comes more interesting stuff to the illuminatis directly more sophisticated means are used

Of course ..you can let your imagination soar high ..if you wish Flash , it was the same friend telling me about technologies that can 'see through walls' and the options 'how to watch you' if someone truly took it for his hobby these days are endless .

Each of the gadgets has a certain capacity ..and though the capacity can be extended and brushed with 'sophisticated technologies' as you say , the user mode is what sells the company name .

All can be turned to a weapon, no doubts, but I'd have to say sorry .. I'm out of here, stop posting on forums,
and stop existing I fear .

:grouphug:

[T Smith]

I kinda feel sorry for the poor gov'ment employee who has me as an assignment. ...Sixty three years old, same ol' husband for 43 years. No pets. Just a few close friends. Retired. Flower Garden. I do sing but no even that would make me interesting. (Might scare 'em off though.)

Let's have some sympathy for those folks who are just trying to make a living. It's probably not what they went to school for. Certainly not what their mother's dreamed for them. They probably just fell into this personal surveillance thing as an alternative to Unemployment. It would be almost as bad as looking at naked bodies all day at airport security.

Most peoples' lives are just incredibly boring. Would you be happy watching a bouncing view of the world from someones mobile all day?

We should not be too concerned about the human surveillance aspect of all of this. Yes, there is human surveillance. But how many FBI/CIA/Alphabet Agency human assets are there relative to the billions of people on this planet? They cannot possibly be spying on all of us.

The danger, and the truly insidious and frightening consideration here, and the real reason we are all under continual surveillance 24/7, is the Artificial Intelligence assessment of our every thought and movement (which can spy on all of us, in real time). Yes, even you Heartsong :) , with your seemingly tepid and mundane lifestyle provide invaluable information to the matrix. All that information en mass literally provides all the necessary underlying data to maintain a matrix of control, mostly in ways too complex to even fathom.

[Agape]

I will faithfully add a little comment to enlighten the ratio ..

IF all the 'smart guys' in backgrounds , quote the CIA, FBI, NSA, Mosad , Alpha&Omega whomever , were really so smart and vigil as you expect from them , not only many of the world wars ( on a go now ) would commence ( know your answer, it's 'in their interest they continue' )
but me especially, with data on human origins would have been found long ago and the information debriefed and recorded .

I'm still here and of course it seems to be much cheaper for all the dumb asses of the world to let me die than to be curious about what the Truth is , though it concerns their own lives and destiny of mankind .

[Soulboy]

My laptop camera has been taped over for years. I even went to the trouble of opening up my laptop and removing the microphone, as with my iPod Touch. I am using the simplest dumbphone in the world, but if they wanna listen in on people, they will find a way. iPhones are everywhere now, above your flat and below your flat.

The worst are the new generation games consoles that film you. Even if they are unplugged, they will continue to film for 24 hours without any electricity. That is creepy stuff imo. However, these consoles will sell really well and in a few years time it will be completely "normal" to have cameras and microphones in every consumer electronics product.

What's this fella's name? Jacob Appelbaum I think. One of the cypherpunks came out in 2012 saying that all smartphones and laptops made by a certain fruit logo company can and will listen, even when the battery is supposedly empty, it's not really empty but is on standby, simulating an empty battery. He also said that if you were at a loud music bar, the phone will still pick up your conversation unless it is stored in a sealed box in freezer-type isolation box. Even then he's not sure they can not still listen through the phones. Obviously, those guys will be more interesting to listen to than most of us ;-)

That same company filed a patent in 2004 to have tiny little cameras in between the LCDs of their laptop screens that each capture a tiny range of space in front of the screen which are then combined to form a large picture (video) again. Not sure if they're using it, but the patent has been around for nearly 10 years now. What made me listen up is the fact that their latest screens are branded "Retina displays"... Hmmmmmmmmmm

[soleil]

we have had duck tape on every cam hole for a couple yrs now.

[Hervé]

I see that many people follow the logic that with a limited dedicated listeners/observers they cannot follow 7 billion individuals... so, why do they do it and record everything?

It's called fine tuning their social engineering software, test what works now, what's not working yet that needs more MSM preps, etc... in order to hone their modelisation of population REACTION to lead said population where they want it to be. Right now, although RFID chips are nano size (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?66184-IMPORTANT-RFID-tatoo-and-whole-walking-body-RFID&p=769050&viewfull=1#post769050) and can be ingested with any food, or any wild games which ingested it from chemtrails, etc... they are working hard to get populations to AGREE that a tattoo chip to pay bills (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?66184-IMPORTANT-RFID-tatoo-and-whole-walking-body-RFID) is the best thing since slice bread... sigh...

[MorningFox]

http://i.imgur.com/cq2XBnk.png

[aviators]

Yes isn't this technology great! Check your cable tv boxes too.
Most have at least one in the house. Found cameras in all of mine. A bit disturbing .:ohwell:

[Sidney]

Yes isn't this technology great! Check your cable tv boxes too.
Most have at least one in the house. Found cameras in all of mine. A bit disturbing .:ohwell:

Did you have to take them apart to find them? Can you see the cameras just from inspecting the exterior? You know, I have pity on the desperation for the need to have that much control on everyone and everything. They obviously have a VOID that cannot be filled. HOW SAD, the cowardess that they employ.

[Miller]

I just downloaded this from the internet dated June 2013 but I remember reading about this at least two years ago, if not more. And I'm sure I read it on this forum too. I've had a post-it over my webcam ever since and only take it off to skype. It must be fairly easy to do. Perhaps the FBI got the idea from these kids in the first place . . . .

Hackers, spy, webcam; three words that represent the epitome of privacy invasion. The thought that someone could catch any one of us at our most vulnerable moments is enough to make the most unreserved of people chuck their laptop out the window. According to reports from UK charity Childnet International, hackers could be spying through your webcam. The BBC reports that Internet creeps are paying as little as $1 to access women's computer cameras, then take photos of them and sell the images elsewhere.

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According to a BBC investigation, hackers gain access to someone's computer using a virus software called a remote-access Trojan, or "rat" (the process of hackers spying through webcams is called "ratting"). The virus software is spread by tricking victims into opening an infected file or to visit a certain webpage.

India Today reports that Internet webcam hacking victims are referred to as "slaves." Hackers lure "slaves," especially teenagers, with things like inflammatory celebrity news or diet tips. Once the virus has entered the computer, hackers can control the device.

One computer hacker, identified simply as Matti, 17, told the BBC that he has hacked about 500 computers. He obtains details from people's personal computers, and then sells that information to others who use it to access people's webcams.

"There's always pervs on the Internet who want to buy female 'bots', and most likely if they want a webcam they take photos and sell it," Matti told the BBC.

One such webcam hacking victim was 20-year-old Rachel Hyndman, a university student in England, who said her webcam randomly turned on while she was in the bathtub. The Daily Mail reports that Hyndman, who was in the bathtub and watching a DVD on her laptop, noticed that her webcam turned itself on and that programs were running on their own.

"It was terrifying to think people had been looking at me without me knowing," Hyndman told BBC Radio 5. "I wondered how often they had done it without me realizing. The thought someone had access to me in this private moment is horrifying."

BBC reporters have even uncovered websites hackers use to share pictures and videos of victims' webcams.

"As more cases of 'ratting' come to light, there is a serious need to educate the public about the methods hackers use to access the private lives of innocent people," Tony Neate, of the Government's Get Safe Online campaign, told The Daily Mail.

"It is alarming that high numbers of women (who are the primary caregivers of children) and young people (who spend a significant amount of time using their laptops) do not know their webcams can be easily hacked," said Dr. Ruby A. Rouse, who conducted a study on laptop users, told Breaking Gov.

According to Breaking Gov, more than 6 in 10 women were unaware of the risk of computer hacking, compared to 40 percent of men. Additionally, 57 percent of Generation Y study participants were unaware of the risk hackers pose to their privacy.

The best way to protect yourself against webcam spies and hackers is to use effective anti-virus software and firewall protection.

[MorningFox]

Fear fear fear fear fear.

Stick a bit of gaffa tape over it and relax.

[Tangri]

Sure, it is disturbing. But guys, just stop for a moment and consider the manpower required for such a maneuver to be truly invasive on a large scale. The FBI doesn't have underground bases filled with tens of thousands of agents monitoring random computer screens! Even if they hypothetically had a team of 1000 men and women dedicated to this one task, they couldn't even effectively monitor a small housing development.

No one is watching you. You're not that important!

"I believe they are not interested in watching you consistently, unless you did or said was filtered earlier. Everybody thinks, some staff sitting and monitoring everyone nope but those(watching/listening) recordings are necessary for face/voice recognition for AI.

[Mike]

http://i.imgur.com/cq2XBnk.png


That's just f#cking hilarious!:laugh:

[Mike]

Even if there was an A.I. picking up sensitive terminology, and then referring the names of the folks using that sensitive terminology to some sort of investigative beurocracy, the number of people that could be potentially "watched" would number in the thousands! Thousands! The FBI can't afford to pay thousands of agents x amount of dollars to stare impassively at mostly blank computer screens. They just can't! The coffee alone would make for an unfavorable cost/benefit ratio!

This type of technology is only effective if an individual is already suspected of criminality. Maybe you have a list of 10 or 20 suspected terrorists or something - then this is a practical solution.

[toad]

in the year 1998 i could activate and record a microphone via a trojan-virus so im not realy surprized by that "news" the only thing that changed is you wont notice the bandwith the trojan uses because u got much more than u need.

also its possible to see your computers display in realtime by receiving its radiowaves and decoding it - the display itself is on its own frequency.

You wouldn't happen to be talking about NetBus/sub7 eh?

Anyway like seehas has said, this attack has been around since webcams were connected to the internet. I would actually be more concerned about some nefarious hacker, gaining access to my webcam, for you may risk doing something and find yourself being extorted or blackmailed.


http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rat-trap.jpg
Ever worry that shadowy hackers—or your school district—are using remote administration tools (RATs) to watch you through your webcam? Do you already keep a piece of tape over the lens? Would you like to indulge your paranoia with more style? Then consider the RAT TRAP, a small plastic rodent that clips over the top of a laptop screen and blocks the camera. Slide it to the side and the camera is usable again.

If the RAT TRAP is less practical than a piece of tape—which can remain on when closing the laptop lid—it's still a clever idea from a set of advertising creatives in the Boulder, Colo. area. Rather than sell the little critter, the group developed it as a digital file suitable for 3D printing and gives it away freely under a Creative Commons license. One of the founders tells me that the idea was to create a nonprofit awareness campaign around the issue of webcam spying, which has surged in recent years. The founder says his own perception of the problem comes from reading articles about the issue on Ars and other sites. Newly crowned Miss Teen USA recently announced that she had been spied on with a RAT and then blackmailed over the resulting images. And earlier this year I spent time among a community of RATers, who traded tips for spreading the software and shared pics of their "slaves."

I asked Ars Senior Reviews Editor Lee Hutchinson to take time out from his busy schedule to print one for me on the Official Ars 3D Printer. He did so. Here is what it looks like in pink:
http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_8069-Version-2-640x332.jpg





www.stopratting.me

[Milneman]

http://i.imgur.com/cq2XBnk.png

That's hot. :)

[Vitalux]

I wonder how much of this is just fear based.

Meaning information put into the mass media for nothing other than to create drama and fear for the sheep to quiver in our boots.

http://www.innerpeaceandultimatefreedom.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/images/Terrified-Man-with-Three-Shadow-Figures-in-Background_10.04.2011.jpg&w=150&h=150&zc=1&q=100

Perhaps fear blocks vision :noidea:

[Milneman]

I'm telling you, you climb on that ball naked and start swinging back n' forth...and they don't look ever again!

[toad]

I wonder how much of this is just fear based.

Meaning information put into the mass media for nothing other than to create drama and fear for the sheep to quiver in our boots.

http://www.innerpeaceandultimatefreedom.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/images/Terrified-Man-with-Three-Shadow-Figures-in-Background_10.04.2011.jpg&w=150&h=150&zc=1&q=100

Perhaps fear blocks vision :noidea:

How much of what? This concept has been around for quite a while, and the vectors of attack come in my forms and sizes. What they don't discuss is the legalities of them doing something like this, and how its being used.

[Dtravis]

That's funny when I bought mine I also placed black electrician tape on the lens

[aviators]

Yes isn't this technology great! Check your cable tv boxes too.
Most have at least one in the house. Found cameras in all of mine. A bit disturbing .:ohwell:

Did you have to take them apart to find them? Can you see the cameras just from inspecting the exterior? You know, I have pity on the desperation for the need to have that much control on everyone and everything. They obviously have a VOID that cannot be filled. HOW SAD, the cowardess that they employ.

Search cable box hidden cameras on you tube. I found pin hole cameras using a flash light. Look carefully behind the front smoke glass panel. I bet microphones are there as well. Like other posters have said I don't think they (who ever) are spying on us all day, but not disclosing there is a camera pointed directly at my bed is not right. Should be criminal.

[Anchor]

No one is watching you. You're not that important!

This is not the point.

By putting an obstruction over my lens I am signifying my intent in a very real and material way.

If I want to be on video, a tripod will be involved together with a decent camera and lighting - I need all the help I can get :)

[sigma6]

That's funny when I bought mine I also placed black electrician tape on the lens

me too... simple solution. still might have to be careful of the speakers, who would of thought we would be living in 1984... unbelievable...

pretty soon you will hear a voice coming out of your speakers... "Thought Police! You are under arrest! remain where you are!... "

[Miller]

I wonder how much of this is just fear based.

Meaning information put into the mass media for nothing other than to create drama and fear for the sheep to quiver in our boots.

http://www.innerpeaceandultimatefreedom.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/images/Terrified-Man-with-Three-Shadow-Figures-in-Background_10.04.2011.jpg&w=150&h=150&zc=1&q=100

Perhaps fear blocks vision :noidea:

Fear? I think it's more about being aware . . . . we should debate the difference sometime, although maybe it's just an individual thing.

[conk]

So, what will they do with the video of me masturbating and crying, while watching granny porn and eating cheetoes? "Hey you, with the orange penis, step away from the internet".

[Vitalux]

Just an after thoughts.

I wonder if cell phones have the same ability to be able to transmit voice and image when not in use by the owner of the device :confused:

Myself, i don't carry or own a cell phone. I enjoy having my privacy as well as my solitude.

[Maia Gabrial]

Do what I do. Tape a piece of cardboard over the camera.... They may still hear you with the audio, but at least they won't be able to see you! And let's see if they can match up voices to faces then!

[Milneman]

So, what will they do with the video of me masturbating and crying, while watching granny porn and eating cheetoes? "Hey you, with the orange penis, step away from the internet".

That's hot.

Can I get a copy of that? Trade you for my swinging naked on a big rubber ball.

***edit***

Turns out some of the FBI do enjoy the swing thing! I have a date next week!

:twitch:

[Bob]

Older Mac's are especially vulnerable to this.. (mac users feel that they are immune to normal PC viruses doe to the different OS that is used..) however a specific form of malware can be read, downloaded and accessed on the mac, to activate the camera, bypass the light (or bypass pretty much any of the normal feedback messages that something is going on in a remote controlled session)..

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2081940/older-mac-webcams-can-spy-without-activating-warning-light-researchers-find.html - spyware for real on mac's

they tell us buy the Mac cause it is more secure to spying, virus' and trojans.. now we see its the opposite.. hmmm

"HU Assistant Research Professor Stephen Checkoway and graduate student Matthew Brocker investigated the hardware design of the first-generation iSight webcam model installed in Apple’s iMac and MacBook computers released before 2008 and found that its firmware could easily be modified to disable the indicator LED.

"At the hardware level, the LED is directly attached to the webcam’s image sensor, particularly its STANDBY pin. When the STANDBY signal is active the LED is off and when not active, the LED is on, the JHU researchers said in a recently released paper.

"In order to disable the LED, the researchers had to find a way to activate STANDBY, but also configure the image sensor to ignore it because when STANDBY becomes active the image sensor output automatically gets disabled, so the webcam cannot be used to capture images.

"To achieve this the researchers created a modified version of the iSight firmware and then reprogrammed the camera with it, using a method that involves sending vendor-specic USB device requests from the host OS. They found that this operation doesn’t require root privileges and can be done from a process started by a regular user account.

"The JHU researchers created a proof-of-concept application called iSeeYou that detects whether an iSight webcam is installed, reprograms it with the modified firmware and then allows the user to start the camera and disable the LED. When the iSeeYou application is stopped, the camera is reprogrammed with the original, unaltered firmware."

[carriellbee]

Sure, it is disturbing. But guys, just stop for a moment and consider the manpower required for such a maneuver to be truly invasive on a large scale. The FBI doesn't have underground bases filled with tens of thousands of agents monitoring random computer screens! Even if they hypothetically had a team of 1000 men and women dedicated to this one task, they couldn't even effectively monitor a small housing development.

No one is watching you. You're not that important!

That's the perception that they are counting on. And why shouldn't they? After all, they have spent many years and millions of dollars to create it.

I don't like to talk about my former life very much, but in order to put my comments in perspective, I feel that I need to share this: I have a background in system security design as well as a long-past affiliation with a certain green-wearing G organization where the focus was something that sounds kind of like sigh hops.

So...

The fact is that they don't need humans to do the job. Computers review all of the data and generate reports based on criteria like facial recognition parameters, keywords, etc. I assume humans still review the computer output and then take it from there, but it is possible that computers are doing that, too. It wouldn't surprise me.

I always put tape over my laptop camera and I disable it in the hardware manager. If you do this, you should check periodically to make sure it has not been re-enabled. It has happened to me and I am very careful.

If you have a television purchased in the last 7 or 8 years, a digital antenna/converter box (for older TVs) or any kind of cable or satellite converter, then you are quite likely to have a camera that you don't even know about. TV and computer speakers can be used as listening devices. Any web-connected device can be used for spying. And all of these devices work even when powered off. We have been wired and connected expressly for this purpose.

Here's an article from MailOnline (UK Daily Mail) which discusses some of these things.

The CIA wants to spy on you through your TV: Agency director says it will 'transform' surveillance (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2115871/The-CIA-wants-spy-TV-Agency-director-says-net-connected-gadgets-transform-surveillance.html)

- Devices connected to internet leak information
- CIA director says these gadgets will 'transform clandestine tradecraft'
- Spies could watch thousands via supercomputers
- People 'bug' their own homes with web-connected devices

[carriellbee]

So, what will they do with the video of me masturbating and crying, while watching granny porn and eating cheetoes? "Hey you, with the orange penis, step away from the internet".

That's hot.

Can I get a copy of that? Trade you for my swinging naked on a big rubber ball.

***edit***

Turns out some of the FBI do enjoy the swing thing! I have a date next week!

:twitch:

I think I am beginning to understand how Regina rhymes with fun... :roll: