Can people look through my webcam with out me knowing?

Hey well yeah I am paranoid and was wondering if someone can look through my webcam with out me knowing? I have a built in webcam and I use it to talk to friends alot, so I dont want to put a piece of tape on it. is there a way I can disable it? also what are the chances someone is watching me and how can I tell?

 

Your computer manufacter is always watching, hence why they put it there. Lol well if someone has access to your computer they can watch you. Like a keylogger.

 

Otherwise, for all practical purposes, no.

 

So how could I tell if I have a keylog in my laptop?

 

there are some flash and silverlight bugs that have been exploited to take control of remote webcams.

 

There's various trojans that do this.

 

Well if I get one how could I get rid of it? I don't want people looking at me.

 

If you're that worried, cover up your webcam with a post-it.

 

Hahaha

Well, on most laptops, there's a power light that indicates when the webcam is receiving power, so if that light is on when it's not supposed to be, you can tell.

 

You will also be able to tell if you see videos for download such as "97 ways to use 4 fingers".

 

I'm sure a virus could disable the light.


Ask yourself this:
Are you really that interesting that somebody would put in so much effort into watching you?

 

Lol its not that I am doing something I dont want them to see. I just dont like the feeling that someone could be watching me. and no I am not that interesting.

 

very good q. im gonna put duct tape / electrical tape over mine since i dont use it.

 

If you're ever going to use the post-it idea, be sure to write on it.

Say hi or "Good job hacking my webcam, good luck finding me"

 

depends on the light. if it's hw locked that you CAN'T disable it, then no. except if the cam could be firmware upgradeable and all, then it could. but most likely, nobody would. except if you're some crazy 007..


then again, OP, could you just hold the left arm up.. it would look funny to us.






edit: in other news, all our work laptops have only a mic (no webcam). that mic is invisible, and always on.. i don't want to know how one could abuse that...

 

someone using your webcam has alot of potential consequences/inconveniences. i have mine covered with electrical tape.

 

Are you serious? I think it's fairly unlikely that someone is watching you through your webcam.

 

The odds are very low: lower than winning the lottery. Keep you antivirus up to date, avoid dodgy web sites, and don't lend your laptop to the NSA. If you do cover it with tape, use a small piece of paper over the lens first so that you don't get adhesive residue.

 

Some laptops allow you to disable the camera hardware in your bios.
An alternative would be to disable the device in your OS, in Windows for instance, use Device Manager - right-click your camera, and select 'Disable'.

 

Why not just unplug it if you are that paranoid? It's technically impossible. Much more likely your neighbor next door is a voyuer peeking through your windows, esp. bathroom and bedroom or the people across the street are using night vision goggles to see if you are home and casing your house so they can take your beloved laptop. lol

 

lol don't worry... nobody would be interested in watching u... and if u are so paranoid , put some duct tape on the camera...

 

It is a good job I can swivel mine to face the other way. Love Asus and their designs

Anyways I am sure you can simply pull the power for the webcam on the motherboard if you open it up. Still putting tape over it is a little easier lol

 

i am serious. i am not paranoid, though. my dad has had problems with hackers before. i have not. i have heard a couple of stories about webcams being hacked, but to honest, i don't know if they were actually true. both stories seemed a little paranoid, and one happen to be a girl really stuck on herself with stalkers around every corner. plus, just imagine how many people sit in front of their computers with no clothes on looking at pornography. doing "activities" that might put a smile on their face. or think about how many people forget they have a program that uses their webcam and forgot to close it when they went to bed. do you really want to be caught scratching your butt or picking your nose next time you get online?

 

If you're worried about it you can disable the webcam in your device manager.

 

Have you seen this movie? Maybe the government is out to get you!!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118883/

Seriously if your not "asking" for it, this will never happen. If you have very poor security for your laptop and a very poorly secured router you'll have more things to worry about then some overzealous hacker or the government watching you.

Use some practical logic and you'll be fine.

 

Like I said the X Files. Also, if you are old enough there was a show called the Outer Limits. Ask pops about it. Am sure he watched it.

http://www.theouterlimits.com/

Actually, maybe under the Homeland Security act you are being watched through your vid cam. lol

Sounds like those criminals who say "my dog was talking to me and made me do it" lol.

Mahalo bra. We are just joking with you.

 

It is a fact that the US government has acces to ANY computer that runs with windows (according to my history teacher). Eventhough I doubt they are watcing you unless you are a drug baron or ex CIA warlord.

 

LOL. You can't be serious. Anyone who's familiar with an ounce of network or security know how will laugh at this statement.

 

better question is, can someone watch me through a webcam that i dont even have? im worried.
maybe my laptop has a secret webcam built in that i dont know about. government can fund that i guess

 

:laugh:

I love it!!!

This thread is keeping me entertained.

 

Laptop cams dont unplug.

Those words dont mix.


Mine says "HP Webcam" right next to it.. well, it could mean "Happy Peeking Webcam"... ;lol

 

Technically impossible is quite a valid phrase. Contrast it to theoretically possible.

 

Theres usually a LED on webcams when activated, getting around the LED will be very hard as its programmed in the firmware.

 

Better yet, grab flipfire's gun and go ka-boom-a-boom-a-la-la on the laptop. No one can see you

Or, take the next flight to Israel, leave the laptop unattended at the border crossing. The guards will take care of the webcam

Webcam Removal Link

 

Stop taking me seriously at 3 AM! lol
I meant like.. technology keeps evolving, in the end the impossible will be considered quite normal..


Prove me wrong. hehe

 

:laugh:

I guess theoretically your statement is valid.

 

I'm just saying what they told me. It's a security mesure in windows (its not the only operating system which had to this) so the secret service or whatever they are called could acces your files. I have no idea how my teacher knows it, maybe because one of his students works in the secret service (not in the USA though). O well, he also said that the americans Nuked japan even though the date of surrender was already set, they just nuked them to scare Stalin. But I haven't heard this in the university, eventhough that teacher is a professor specialised inWW2 and teaches in another university. So maybe this guy is crazy, or maybe no one wants to know the truth.

 

they do. but you have to open up the screen, follow the cables to plug the internal usb out.

but if one is paranoid, that's just one part. the other is, to build a tin foil hat.

 

Must be really interesting to watch a guy stare at a computer screen for 8 hours and type once in a while...

 

OK, as soon as he started talking you should have stopped listening. Sounds like the homeless guys I see downtown with their billboards and bullhorns talkign about the soviet invasion. LOL.

Honestly, it's *almost* more hilarious that you believed him.

 

I'm with Potato here.

I'll forgive ya since you are a youngin though. Next time listen to your parents when they tell ya, "Don't believe everything you hear."

 

Listhen to my parents? Al my dad said was usualy made up, and my mom is raised in the sovjet union and is brainwashed as hell. That teacher was the only one worth listhening to.

 

OK, just because you feel like you can't trust what your parents say, doesn't mean you have to trust what HE says. This isn't a lesser of two evils situation.

He's completely and entirely paranoid schitzophrenic. Your mom was brainwashed, and your dad was a liar. Are YOU smart enough to realize this and NOT listen to them?

 

It was a metaphor.

Edit:

Considering the proceeding exchange, I should probably explain the metaphor. Generally your parents or "parental figures" are there to teach you about the world, educate you, protect you from danger. But more importantly, to tell you to use your head because not everything is like what it seems. People get their facts wrong. That car won't start everytime. Leaves fall. People grow up.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDOwbYnvP4

to the OP, check this.

 

Leaves don't always fall, they can also fly. People become infants when they become older...
Anyway It's not that I totaly beleive him, otherwise i'd just say what he said and argue al the time with my own arguments. What I did was say, that he said it ;d And since he is a Proffesional Historian (those people know a LOT) I think we shouldn't just protray him as a paranoied insane person.

 

Bra, the WW2 decison may have some validity. Have read that as a reason among others. But the Windows thing is pure fantasy. Techncally impossible without your consent and needs setup too. lol.

the prof is a nut. no offense.

 

actually, interestingly, i just learned today, that the software from absolute.com can be imprinted on a bios, and does selfinstall it into any os installed on the laptop. it's a software for remotewiping your laptop if stolen, and makes sense to reinstall even when installing a new os.

now, in some evil country, the dictator could force a special control bios, to allow to abuse all systems (thinking of china, which wants a special software to be forced onto systems).


so it could be doable.

but it's not done on our systems, that's for sure.

and even then, i wouldn't care, as i'm about 100% uninteresting to watch, so.. who ever likes to watch, can do so

 

Well whatever program they put in windows, microsoft was well aware of it, they probably made it themselves at demand of the government.

 

there WAS NO SUCH PROGRAM EVER.

paranoia really is something stupid