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> Laptops usually have indicator lights for cameras But doesn't that just mean you have to trust the light? I mean this does indeed seem rather ridiculous. If
by codeka 13y ago
> Laptops usually have indicator lights for cameras
But doesn't that just mean you have to trust the light? I mean this does indeed seem rather ridiculous. If you're really that paranoid, a piece of masking tape will solve your problem.
- davorak 13y ago> But doesn't that just mean you have to trust the light? This problem is solved by having the power to the camera hardwired to the light. If the camera is on the light will be on, well until the led burns out but that takes a while. Last I checked and my model of macbook has this but I do not know how common it is over all. I do not think this is common practice for microphones and it seems like it should be.
- sliverstorm 13y agoBut that means you have to trust power was hardwired to the light.
- davorak 13y agoOr you open it up and check at least with the model I have. I do not know about the new models with retina displays I hear they are harder to take apart.
- comex 13y agoIn theory, the hardware should be designed so that it's impossible to use the camera without turning on the light, so it would require the device manufacturer to be malicious in advance, which is even less likely. Of course, there could be bugs, but it shouldn't be hard to design such a feature correctly. (Note that since there are cases of people being spied on by their laptop webcams, as mentioned elsewhere on the thread, but always with the light on, it would be quite a serious issue if someone discovered a way to disable the light.)
- sliverstorm 13y agoBut then you have to trust the masking tape. What if the NSA put a backdoor in masking tape for this very purpose?