Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It’s Not in Use?
Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It’s Not in Use?
It's possible for webcams to be hacked and made to record audio and/or video without your knowledge. Here's what to do.
More importantly, run an operating system you can trust.
I have Linux Mint installed on my laptop, I just don't trust M$ Windows with their AI crap.
another cultist
that's prettt much impossible without going to insane lengths
For some, particularly businesses reliant on software that can't perform on anything but Windows (and occasionally MacOS), sure. For individuals it is much easier. Installed Linux Mint a few months ago and I set up a VM for the stuff I truly needed some form of Windows for (tried dual booting for a bit but found that inconvenient). None of these are insane lengths, unless the cutoff for that is, "anything above minimal effort."
Is it really insane though?
Even a decade ago, it took longer to download a Linux distro than it did to make a bootable disc, boot to it, and install.
Seriously, the very first time I installed Linux on anything was maybe twenty minutes of actual effort total, with the rest being waiting for things to download or process during install. I can't call that crazy lengths. Not everyone is as confident in following instructions and willing to take a risk, but it isn't some kind of hyper specialized skill, and the very fact of a bootable storage means you can verify a given install would work on your hardware.
Now, changing roms on android? I would agree that doing so is absurdly more difficult than it should be, and there's more pitfalls that can screw things up. But I didn't get the impression you meant that.
No operating system is trustable unless you coded it entirely yourself on an air gapped machine with your own hand crafted compiler, and even then you are still exposed to hardware backdoors
unless you coded it entirely yourself on an air gapped machine with your own hand crafted compiler
That implies you can trust yourself to even code a compiler in the first place.
Can you?
who you hiding from, the NSA?
You're confusing "trust" with "can guarantee to beyond a shred of a doubt that the system is not compromised in any way".
TL;DR
Yes
Also disable all microphones etc. of courseFun fact, every speaker is a microphone and vice versa.
While true, an average speaker isn't sensitive enough to get quality or understandable sound out of, and that's assuming software can be rewritten to accept input from them.
This isn't a realistic privacy concern imo, but it is a novel fun fact, and if you have a 3.5mm jack you can play around with it on a PC
Two questions:
- Does my soundcard have an ADC wired (directly) to my speakers?
- If yes: Why?
if they have an amplifier that does not work anymore, does it?
but otherwise that's right, and in laptop speakers this is probably not a barrier
Absolutely, unless you're lucky enough to have a laptop with a Physical killswitch on your Webcam + Mic module, then it's not needed since flipping the Switch physically kills power to the Camera module's USB header.
Framework Laptops have this Feature.
My Asus has one and I didn't know about it and FOR YEARS I thought my webcam was broken- it wasn't even showing up in the device manager. I bought an external webcam, because I figured it was pooched and I had to use a webcam sometimes, but not often enough to care into looking to get it repaired.
This is a story about me being dumb.
Yes, yes you should.
Hell, I unplug the damned thing when I'm not using it.
Have there ever been cases where this actually happened?
Yes, several schools have been caught activating cameras in the home, and have punished students for activities seen on those illegally enabled cameras
Nothing happened to the schools
Spying trough the webcam?
Hell yeah. There's even sellers on hacker forums that sell access to the computers of hot girls. It's sick but it happens.
Most big time hackers don't do this though. They'll have so many computers under their control they don't waste time on singular targets.
Zuckerberg has been doing this for over a decade.
https://mashable.com/article/mark-zuckerberg-webcam-cover
The answer is yes, obviously duh, yes.
My Thinkpad has a built-in camera cover. I keep it closed unless I'm specifically using it.
Thinkpads are great that way
This is the way...
Yes. Technically everything is hackable.
Cover all cameras on all devices.
Related, when we were shopping for a smart TV last year, it was so difficult to find one without a microphone... I already don't like my phone having a microphone, why would I put it into my bloody TV...
What about my cameras?
I have a 15+ year old lamp on my desk which has a bulb that gets quite hot. Didn't realize my laptop was directly under it one day. Melted the laptop lid slightly directly where the camera is located.
Everything else works fine except for the camera. I always disabled it in BIOS but now it's physically disabled. Sometimes the adhd solves problems on it's own.
Can you cover the lens with sandpaper and rub it for a few minutes? Permanent problems require permanent solutions
This is the energy I’m looking for. Impractical but powerful.
Most people would like to use the webcam occasionally though.
Chapstick + Webcam + Twist Chapstick on Lens + "The camera looks like that even when I clean it" = Problem Solved
EFF gives out tiny stickers at conventions for that purpose. I've been staring at an EFF sticker for years.
Should You Cover Your Laptop Camera When It’s Not in Use?
Next, Should you stop saying your password out loud as you key it in? Should you send your toddler to the Catholic Church daycare? Should you trust Nigerian princes?
On Macbooks the led next to the camera is wired to the camera's power. It's physically not possible to record without the led lighting up.
Unless those Macbook cameras have a physical Killswitch that allows them to stay completely off when you don't want it's probably still a good idea. I mean the indicator can tell you when it's recording. It's not going to prevent it.
You are not gonna notice it taking a quick pic tho
If you're running Linux, does this still apply!?
Yes
as long as you don't use evil apps
All good then.
Oh yeah. Use electrical tape.
My framework laptop has a built-in, physical kill switch for both the webcam and mic.
On my desktop pc, I cover the webcam or unplug it entirely until I need it.
Yeah I use a desktop PC, and like once every 2 weeks I plug in my webcam for a work meeting, the rest of the time I bask in the comfort that my PC has no visual/audio sensors 😌
One of the benefits of using a desktop PC instead of a laptop xd
(Tbh if I had a laptop I would surely cover it up. Not going to trust software with this...)
I have a cheap garbage windows work laptop without a cover. So I just put a clothesline clip on it at all times.