OnlySunshine Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 My mom just emailed this story to me and I checked it on snopes.com. Seems it's real. It's a scary thought to think that people could be spying on you when you least suspect it. I put a piece of masking tape over my webcam. http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/01/24/16641666-rossen-reports-webcam-hackers-can-spy-on-you-in-secret?lite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Well, this is comforting. I have a webcam for a week and this comes out. <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have a more elegant suggestion for the somewhat more computer savvy folks who would like to protect themselves. Attacks against your computer will come in 2 forms: your operating system, and your web browser. Good anti-virus to protect your operating system is critical, but it is not enough, as most modern attacks don't care what OS you use and will instead attack your web browser directly. No longer are Mac and Linux users safe merely by virtue of not running Windows. My suggestion: run a secure browser like Chrome or Firefox, and learn to use privacy and security addons like NoScript and Disconnect. Well, this is comforting. I have a webcam for a week and this comes out. <_< Guess what? This is really old news. Webcam hacking has been around since 2006. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscerningCatholic Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Derp. My computer sits on my desk in the schoolroom. I only move it upstairs to vlog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Also, if any of you guys have networked security cameras in your house, make really damn sure that they are password protected. If they are not password protected, then anyone with the know-how can look straight through them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I posted this a year ago, a security camera with a vulnerability http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16919664 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have a more elegant suggestion for the somewhat more computer savvy folks who would like to protect themselves. Attacks against your computer will come in 2 forms: your operating system, and your web browser. Good anti-virus to protect your operating system is critical, but it is not enough, as most modern attacks don't care what OS you use and will instead attack your web browser directly. No longer are Mac and Linux users safe merely by virtue of not running Windows. My suggestion: run a secure browser like Chrome or Firefox, and learn to use privacy and security addons like NoScript and Disconnect. Guess what? This is really old news. Webcam hacking has been around since 2006. Gee, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) Also, if any of you guys have networked security cameras in your house, make really damn sure that they are password protected. If they are not password protected, then anyone with the know-how can look straight through them. If you have networked security cameras in your house, password protected or not, make damm sure you got WPA2 Enterprise level encryption on your wifi, and that WPS on your router is switched off. Also consider using MAC address filtering. Mater's point is quite valid though- if you have a camera and you don't want people snapping pics and you aren't sure, you can always just cover the lens when you aren't using it. But you should also be aware that your computer also has a microphone, and you'll still want to have good security software in place to cover *that* as well. The attack vector which was demonstrated in the article is from an email with a web link in it. Malicious websites attack your computer through scripted vulnerabilities which are known vulnerabilities in your web browser such as Java, Flash, XML, Silverlight, and a few others. You can easily stop the vast majority of these kinds of attacks with NoScript (without losing functionality on your favorite trusted websites like Phatmass) if you are a Firefox user, and I am positive such plugins also exist for nearly every other browser except Internet Explorer. Edited January 24, 2013 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicansoul Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 its a good thing i'm boring and have nothing to show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 its a good thing i'm boring and have nothing to show... :| That only works until someone actually has pics of you. Look, I have caught people trying to unlawfully monitor me through my own computer. It's scary stuff. Protecting yourself is not really that hard, and you should do it before you get attacked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groo the Wanderer Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Arf! are you really wearing THAT?! geeze man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Arf! are you really wearing THAT?! geeze man. :hehe2: :| That only works until someone actually has pics of you. Look, I have caught people trying to unlawfully monitor me through my own computer. It's scary stuff. Protecting yourself is not really that hard, and you should do it before you get attacked. HOW did you catch them? :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Arf! are you really wearing THAT?! geeze man. IT WAS YOU! rotfl Seriously, the people who spy on you may not even be random creeps either. Employers very frequently do that. Universities also very frequently do this to their students. They hide behind the idea that the network is their property, and so they should get to spy on you because you use their network. That's how I got spied on, and had no legal recourse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG45 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have noscript and it's the most annoying add-on ever. Want to see comments on that news story? Better allow/temp allow Disqus, the news site itself, and sometimes two or three others. That said, it gives you an amazing idea of just how many background scripts are running on every site you go to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have noscript and it's the most annoying add-on ever. Want to see comments on that news story? Better allow/temp allow Disqus, the news site itself, and sometimes two or three others. That said, it gives you an amazing idea of just how many background scripts are running on every site you go to. Annoying? Kinda. Once you get used to the way it works though, it's quite powerful. But of course, I'm biased because I've actually been burned before. I gladly pay the price of some inconvenience for my security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now