Webcams are on almost all laptops these days, and they might just be the peep-hole into your personal life. I've had several friends talk to me about instances where their webcam was hacked into (or attempted to be hacked into), one instance in particular involving a friend who was watched for hours eating spagetti.
I researched into it and discovered that people will hack someone else's for a plethora of reasons, and the technology to do so has become so immensely easy. These people are considered to be Black Hat Hackers, and someone of almost any age could do it with the right software.
However, there are some ways to prevent yourself from having your webcam hacked:
Make sure you keep your computer up-to-date on anti-virus protection and enable your firewall, because an easily hijacked webcam is often done through unsecure computers. Also make sure you watch out what you download off of a messenger like Yahoo or MSN.
To tell if your webcam has been hacked, there is usually a light on a webcam to show that it is on, and even laptop integrated webcams have a status LED.
Eitherway I know several people who have been affected by online webcam hackers and have read even more stories about instances where that was a serious problem. So make sure to keep yourself protected from creepers on the net.
Here's a good website that goes over ways to prevent it: http://hellboundbloggers.com/2009/05/26/truth-about-webcam-hacking/
there are alot of talk about hacking through social network site such as facebook or myspace but there is not enough talk about other way a hacker can get your personal information such as this method through webcam. I think we need to more awareness about this issue so people can watch and protect their privacy while they use their webcam
ReplyDeleteThis is really eye-opening and scary. The thought of a random person watching me without me knowing is creepy. I wonder how these hackers benefit from watching someone eat. I understand that watching someone surf online might be beneficial to a hacker but I do not understand why someone would want to watch another person while they are eating.
ReplyDeleteCouldnt you also put a piece of tape over your webcam? That would protect your privacy also without having to deal with firewalls and spyware, ect. Just a thought :)
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