ID: IRCNE2013122050
Date: 2013-12-20
According to “CNet”, Imagine going about your daily life and then one day receiving photos of yourself from inside your home. Sound spooky? Well, this really happened to a woman, according to the Washington Post. How did this happen?
Apparently, there's a way for hackers to spy on people via their iSight Webcams in older Apple MacBooks. Typically, when the camera is on a little light is also set off. But, in a newly discovered workaround, this light can be deactivated -- meaning unsuspecting victims have no clue they're being watched.
The Washington Post revealed this new research by Johns Hopkins computer scientist Stephen Checkoway, which shows how people can be spied on with MacBooks and iMacs released before 2008. Using proof-of-concept software, called Remote Administration Tool or RAT, Checkoway was able to reprogram the iSight camera's micro-controller chip so that the light doesn't turn on.
While it could be feasible to do this trick on newer Apple computers or laptops by other brands, it hasn't yet been proven possible.
This is not the first time someone has been remotely spied on with a Webcam, but it is the first known time that it's been done without the warning light being triggered.
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