Hackers are turning on your webcams

[Jazzy]

Hackers are turning on your webcams without you knowing

Hackers have been found taking pictures and videos of unsuspecting people in their homes and posting them online according to the Government’s Information Commissioner.

University student, Rachel Hyndman, was sitting in the bath watching a DVD when she saw the red-light on her webcam turn on.

Speaking to BBC radio 5 live, she said: ‘I was in the bath, trying to relax, and then programs on my computer came on like a ghost was using it.

‘It was terrifying to think people had been looking at me without me knowing.’

According to the Daily Mail, there are websites on the other side of the world in Russia where hackers have posted up images and videos of people sitting in their conservatories, their living rooms and driveways.

This has raised fears that burglars will use these hacking techniques to find out where people keep their valuables when a property is empty.

Emma Carr from Big Brother Watch spoke of this increasing problem: ‘Few people would leave their front doors unlocked, yet failing to password protect your devices carries the same risks to both their privacy and security.

‘As the capability of these devices becomes increasingly sophisticated, it is inevitable that users will inadvertently expose themselves and their lives to hackers.’

Is your webcam protected?

 

[Ellie1142545]

I caught this on the news last night....

I mentioned to my husband, I'm glad I don't use webcam....He gave me a funny look, and was about to say something.....I beat him, lol! I told him the webcam I have doesn't work with this computer, but I only used it to down load pictures....I bought the webcam, while I still had my windows XP. Now I have Windows 8.1....

I choose not to have a webcam hooked to my computer, for this very reason....When I first heard about the webcams, I thought no way!! How do know, or not, if someone has the know how to use the webcam I have against me? And now, there is proof, that it can be done, and is being done....Nope, not going to allow it.....

 

[Darth-Apple]

I have one on my PC, and I can say that I am glad that I am not a windows user. If I go back to using Windows regularly, I'll probably put some black tape or something over it just in case. I was a bit of a magnet for viruses back when I used Windows regularly.

 

[Sinon]

I have tape over my webcam anyway, since Skype likes to auto-accept calls sometimes. And since I can't find an option to disable Skype from using my webcam (it's an inbuilt laptop one) I taped it up.

 

[Dee]

I have tape over my webcam anyway, since Skype likes to auto-accept calls sometimes. And since I can't find an option to disable Skype from using my webcam (it's an inbuilt laptop one) I taped it up.

This. For a long, long time now I've put tape or some sort of paper taped over my webcam out of fear someone was hacking into my laptop to spy on me. I don't have a webcam on my desktop so I don't care, but when laptops now come preinstalled with webcams, you have to find a way to protect yourself.

 

[Enter Username Here]

I don't think they'd like what they see late at night.

 

[Icetex]

Well Now That i have desktop
Use Mic HeadSet
I use my webcam for Vlogs on my youtube channel
thats about it after that i disconnect it

 

[Nebulous]

Crazy! I don't own a webcam myself though.

 

[Ellie1142545]

I have one on my PC, and I can say that I am glad that I am not a windows user. If I go back to using Windows regularly, I'll probably put some black tape or something over it just in case. I was a bit of a magnet for viruses back when I used Windows regularly.

What type is your PC?

 

[+paradox]

this is nothing new, hackers been doing this, and a lot of them are government officials...

 

[Enter Username Here]

The NWO is evil.

 

[spork985]

There are loads of cams on the Internet. It's not hacking. People are just stupid and plug IP cams into an unprotected network.

Like this one for example. There was a guy working at the desk a little bit ago
http://webcam.brandon.fuller.name:8038/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?resolution=640x480

Here's another
http://midas.psi.ch/megcam02/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?compression=10&resolution=640x480

A good way to find them is to do a google image search with the keyword "inurl:axis-cgi".