# Can people really hack into your webcam?



## littleghost (Oct 29, 2016)

I've seen on shows like Criminal Minds where the bad guy hacks into the victim's webcam and watches them when they're not aware. Can people really do that? How hard is it?


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## ljubo (Jul 26, 2015)

I am scared of that too.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Yep sure can . 
I like that outfit by the way 


I've had mine hacked but always have a bit of tape on it and only knew because the little light came on .


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## littleghost (Oct 29, 2016)

Grog said:


> Yep sure can .
> I like that outfit by the way


Now I know you're lying... I'm naked, that's what made me think of it. The hazards of naked computing.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

littleghost said:


> Now I know you're lying... I'm naked, that's what made me think of it. The hazards of naked computing.


Hehehe oh I know . 
Best outfit ever .:nerd:


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

yep and not hard


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## clarkekent (Dec 2, 2015)

littleghost said:


> I'm naked


Lets snapchat


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

Yes, and it isn't hard to do, either.

Here is an image of Zuckerberg at his office. Even he keeps his webcam covered! That underscores just how seriously we should all take the hacking of webcams.


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## ghost dog (Sep 8, 2013)

Yes and it's not that hard. But you don't have to cover your webcam, you can simply disable it in device manager when you're not using it.


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## MobiusX (Nov 14, 2008)

disable the cam or uninstall it, problem solved


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## Reset Button (Feb 2, 2017)

This one in a news article, take it seriously, disable or stick a bandaid over the cam.


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## mt moyt (Jul 29, 2015)

I'm putting a piece of blutack on my webcam from now on


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## discoveryother (Sep 18, 2016)

i dunno. i know there was a thing about it, including US surveillance things. but i assume that particular vulnerability has been fixed by now. unless you're using old hardware/drivers?

i think the webcam lights have to be on if its in use now, its part of the hardware. before it was software controlled.

all of that is completely unsupported speculation though. i don't know why i think those things.


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## Zozulya (Mar 24, 2016)

Lisa said:


> Yes, and it isn't hard to do, either.
> 
> Here is an image of Zuckerberg at his office. Even he keeps his webcam covered! That underscores just how seriously we should all take the hacking of webcams.


Haha! meanwhile his company collects, analyzes and sells all sorts of data from almost all internet users... Even the non-users of Facebook (you know, it's about the f/like button on websites). It is a well-known fact if something is somewhat free, you are the product.

One can also disable webcam from laptop bios, about the mic, just mute it in the volume mixer... I'm more worried about smartphones, where the business model is solely comprised of processing and selling personal data, and you don't know if the phone is accessing to camera, mic, gps and other sensors.

There are apps that can filming without any consent https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/05/28/yes-your-smartphone-camera-can-be-used-to-spy-on-you/ , and there are probably undocumented backdoors in the firmware and the OS, and right now, Google is probably collecting data from all its users while the phone is in a sleep state.


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## thisismeyo (Feb 15, 2013)

yes people can. and tech leaders such as zuckerberg above cover's their webcam hahaha


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## Memories of Silence (May 15, 2015)

I've had stickers covering mine for the last few years, and I still worry about it even with it covered up.


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## AllTheSame (Mar 19, 2016)

I have a sticky over my webcam. My life is pretty boring though, ffs.....Idk who'd want to watch me lmao.....


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## Saitama (Jan 5, 2015)

Honestly, why does it matter? I do a bunch of embarrassing stuff in front of my webcam without it covered and I honestly don't understand why it matters if someone I don't even know is watching me. If it was someone I knew I would feel honored that someone is taking time out of their day to stalk someone as insignificant as me.


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

Saitama said:


> Honestly, why does it matter? I do a bunch of embarrassing stuff in front of my webcam without it covered and *I honestly don't understand why it matters if someone I don't even know is watching me.* If it was someone I knew I would feel honored that someone is taking time out of their day to stalk someone as insignificant as me.


I think you are underestimating just how creepy (and dangerous!) humans can be.

Apparently, it is also very easy to hack into baby monitors. People hack into them, watch others' babies and even talk to them via the microphone.

Have a look at this buzzfeed article: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilve...terrifying-thing?utm_term=.gjjMApXl#.rt8JNqw8


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

Yes. I've been putting tape of my web cam since I've owned a laptop.


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## whereistheoffswitch (Jan 31, 2016)

On my Samsung S4 the Ram usage and temperature and data usage is always higher whenever my front facing camera is not covered up with tape. Whenever I cover it up, the Ram usage and temp and data usage drops. That is quite freaky. I've always kept stuff like that covered now and have done since 2005 or so, and even more so since http://uk.businessinsider.com/fbi-director-covers-webcam-2016-9


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## doe deer (Oct 9, 2016)

of course they can


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## TheInvisibleHand (Sep 5, 2015)

If you are not covering up the camera on your laptop you are actually stupid .
Especially if you are a good looking woman.


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## TheLastShy (Sep 20, 2014)

I don't cover my cam because my family thinks I am master baiting. In this case I just don't remain naked in front of any cam.

Anyway, that's a honor to be so attractive that people need to hack my webcam just to stalk me.


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## The Library of Emma (Mar 3, 2016)

TheLastShy said:


> Anyway, that's a honor to be so attractive that people need to hack my webcam just to stalk me.


hah, this is actually funny.

for a while i got paranoid and covered my camera up with a sticky note but i think my internet speed was probably too low for someone to actually hack it :/ the perks of having second-rate technology...


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## Rains (Jan 20, 2016)

2Milk said:


> Yes. I've been putting tape of my web cam since I've owned a laptop.


Same. It's one of he first things I do when I get a laptop.


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## ScorchedEarth (Jul 12, 2014)

I don't know, but good luck hacking through opaque duct tape.


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## HenDoggy (Jul 26, 2014)

Sometimes my Kinect turns on by itself


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## Polar (Dec 16, 2006)

As long as the light next to the lens on your laptop is off, you're fine.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

*So exciting*


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## ljubo (Jul 26, 2015)

TheInvisibleHand said:


> If you are not covering up the camera on your laptop you are actually stupid .
> Especially if you are a good looking woman.


Did you hack my webcam when i showed myself to you in tinychat?


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## Doodlebug (May 15, 2016)

Jesus ._.


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