# Hackers Can Now Watch You Through Your Webcam



## Jeffery (Oct 25, 2011)

Hackers have learned how to watch you through your webcam
Watch this important NBC Today Show report:
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50572646#50572646


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Is it possible? Yes
Is it likely? Not really

If you're worried, put a piece of tape or something over your camera (if its part of the computer)

Being aware of what you are doing and what you are clicking on goes a long ways in keeping yourself secure. I've been online since the old days of 300 baud modems and BBS's and I've only been virused once.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> Being aware of what you are doing and what you are clicking on goes a long ways in keeping yourself secure.


That's the point here, if you run an executable without knowing the source then you are saying "yes" to allow the program to do anything. They can't do it without someone letting down his guard.


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## defenestrate (Aug 23, 2005)

I'd be far more worried about a school laptop spying on us, if I had kids here at school.

Also, partially because I don't like my system being vulnerable to a great many things, I run some variant of Unix/Linux and I keep it updated. FreeBSD does a pretty good job of vetting code.

Still, Nevada is right. If I were to download and execute the right script, it could send video out somewhere. A light would turn on next to the webcam but it could be transmitting.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

How about people who can turn your cell phone on and use it to listen in on you and anyone else nearby?


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

When in doubt stick a little electric tape over the camera lens & the mic.


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## WhyNot (Jun 21, 2011)

This isn't exactly new news.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

No, it ain't , but I suppose it's good to remind people now and them. 
Hey that reminds me Whynot! Last week I was getting ready to go to a class when my dad (77) called me down to his computer. He had someone on the phone and asked me to deal with them. It was a fellow that said he was dealing with a problem on pop's puter. He had me go to start menus and run program then type something in and hot enter. The window opened that asked me if I wanted to allow this program access to my computer, and I thought, "whoa, whoa!!, wait a minute". I asked what he was doing and he said he had to remove a damaging program from that computer. I called my pop back down and asked who was on the phone, and he said he didn't know, just someone who called him up. :0 I was just that close to letting them in the computer. I had assumed it was someone he had called to deal with some problem. He gets hit on all the time by people trying to take advantage of his age. Burns me up.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

Lol, this is so old. People have been able to do this since web cameras first came out! 
Put tape over it or unplug it, it's not that hard.
You can also control people's computers, watch in on what other pcs are doing, ect.


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