I have seen many people call it "paranoid" when they see, someone has covered their laptop camera with a piece of tape. But do you know it is one of the smartest ways to protect your privacy. Wondering how? Well, we will get into that topic soon. First of all, you need to check this photo of Mark Zuckerberg where you can clearly see him doing the same what we are discussing here in this article.
Not only Mark Zuckerberg but also Edward Snowden, former FBI director James Comey, all these celebrities and heads of state are using tape on their laptop cameras. FBI director James Comey admitted in a conference that Government officers in the US cover their webcams so that “people who don’t have authority don’t look at you. I think that's a good thing.” - he said.
But why are they so concerned about it and should we do the same. The very correct answer is yes if you do not follow some of the cyber security rules. If you download files from any sources on the internet without checking it properly or if you download attachments from your email from any unknown sources, then you could be a victim of Webcam attack.
Image Source: Facebook
In such attacks, hackers just need to send you an EXE file and then they wait for you to download and click on it. Once you click on it everything is done for them. It can be done on your smartphone too. Instead of an EXE file hackers will send you an APK file if they want to get the control of your smartphone camera and microphone. After getting the control of your webcam hackers can easily take photos of you with the help of your laptop camera or phone camera and they can even listen to your conversation using your microphone. So, if you can't follow all the cyber security rules, you can at least cover your laptop camera with tape to protect your privacy.
If you look at the photo closely, you may see that not only the webcam but also the microphone of that laptop is covered with a tape. It is because applying the above technique a hacker can gain access to both your webcam and microphone. So it is always recommended that if you do not use your webcam and microphone frequently then keep them covered.
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