
Mark Zuckerberg Covers His Laptop Camera. You Should Consider It, Too - terryauerbach
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/technology/personaltech/mark-zuckerberg-covers-his-laptop-camera-you-should-consider-it-too.html?_r=0
======
sctb
Recent discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952255](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952255)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11949278](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11949278)

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hartator
Hm, I still think that's stupid. The information leaked by the cam are minimal
compared to gettinng your email hacked for example. The mic part, a tape is
probably not doing anything significant and you can still be spyed upon.

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ar7hur
There's a jack in the mic port, so that cuts the internal microphone.

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hartator
I don't think so, it's just a software switch. You can still access the
original mic via regular recording softwares.

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tyhui
The circuit that delivers electricity to the Mac camera goes through the green
light diode.

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rhexs
Hope that's the case. Always seemed like a better idea than having it be
firmware controlled.

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rocky1138
It is not the case: [http://www.tested.com/tech/mac-os/459491-mac-webcam-hack-
pro...](http://www.tested.com/tech/mac-os/459491-mac-webcam-hack-proves-led-
indicator-light-isnt-always-trustworthy/)

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pavel_lishin
It is for newer macs:

> _If you have a new-ish Mac, don 't panic--this hack is for older iSight
> cameras, although it's possible that newer Mac cameras have their own
> vulnerabilities._

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rocky1138
Can you confirm that new Macs are safe?

This sentence doesn't do that.

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jimhefferon
Even if you cover the camera, there is no way to do the same with the
microphone (turning it off in software is not the same). Vendors should make
machines with a hardware switch.

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anpill
But where would they fit that? The sides of today's laptops already have a
whopping one port! /s

Why did hardware switches die out?

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tonylemesmer
they break. and only a small proportion of customers demand them.
(speculation)

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jimhefferon
I have a slide switch on my Dell laptop to turn off wifi. I've never known
anyone to use it. (Not to say there isn't a use, but rather to say that a
major vendor puts it in despite that the average customer would not use it,
and it doesn't seem to break.)

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hanklazard
We had similar laptops in a clinic where I worked a few years ago. The
hardware switch for wifi caused hours of confusion and many unnecessary calls
to the IT service--I never understood the use-case. Is there one?

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gthtjtkt
This is especially important for people who are using employer or school-
provided laptops. The Lower Merion School District drew national attention to
this issue[1], but most people _still_ don't understand how trivial it is for
an employer (or school) to spy on them. Some sleazy IT guy could be recording
everything 24/7 and they'd have no idea.

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_District)

~~~
sakabaro
* Some sleazy IT guy or woman! :)

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gthtjtkt
IT Guy*

* By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation

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mc32
I couldn't possibly guess his motives for covering the lens, but I'll give you
mine: There are times when you inadvertently open apps which like opening the
camera, and if you're unawares, that basically live streams you till you
notice or someone pings you.

In other words, it's not do much someone will hack you, but rather you're
minimizing having a "hot lens" or a "hot mic" unbeknownst.

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mhurron
There is far too much malware that exists to turn these devices on to spy on
the user without indicating to them that they are operating. If you pick up
that malware, your only defence is covering those devices to render them
useless at that point in time.

~~~
mc32
Fair point. That said, I'd find it surprising Mark would presume he's hacked.
If his system is vulnerable, whose isn't and how can anyone do any financial
transactions on their systems if they can presume malware is present?

~~~
mhurron
> If his system is vulnerable, whose isn't

That's the thing, everyone's vulnerable but vulnerable is not a synonym for
compromised. And you don't cover the camera because you think you've been
compromised, you do it before in case you ever were later.

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ericabiz
If you decide to do this too, consider supporting the EFF at the same time:
[https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-
set](https://supporters.eff.org/shop/laptop-camera-cover-set)

I have one of these on my computer and it works great. They are removable for
the occasional video call. One sticker has lasted me several years--it's a
great deal for $5.

~~~
jzig
It's too bad they don't have some plain black or plain silver versions of
this.

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torvald
Rebember that this guy's password is^Wwas 'dadada'. I would not put to much
into this.

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exar0815
Okay, now I've got an interesting question. On my ancient MacBook, while using
bootcamp, there was a driver issue, which did not allow me to disable TOSLINK
in my audio jack, so always shining a bright red light out of it. While not
being annoying, would it been possible to grab the audio information wile
being in a line-of-sight?

That would be the only thing why I "could" understand taping over the audio
jack...

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chdir
The odd thing is "black" tape over mic & "clear-ish" tape over camera.
Shouldn't it be the other way round.

Oh, and I try to find a tape that matches the laptop color so my paranoia
isn't visible from a mile away.

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Cthulhu_
I've seen a pretty neat looking camera cover for Macs, iirc it was a very wide
magnet that spanned most of the top of the screen, could be slid aside easily.

~~~
bobwaycott
[http://spishutter.com/](http://spishutter.com/) ?

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basseq
What if you use your laptop camera for video conferencing?

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pwelch
I buy one of these for all my MacBooks:
[http://spishutter.com](http://spishutter.com)

Looks better than tape.

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namaemuta
He's so well known publicly that even a small amount of information leaked
from him can make a huge mess in the media so I kind of understand him.

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36bydesignBL
Why did he also have his audio jack taped over?

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arthulia
It's the microphone, not the audio jack.

~~~
36bydesignBL
It's definitely the audio jack, but you can use it for a mic, I just don't
understand how it can record you without a mic plugged in. Thus my honest
question.

twitter.com/topherolson/status/745294977064828929

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2close4comfort
I would not source my security advice from a developer I think is the answer
people are overlooking.

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dejawu
I have mine covered with a sticker printed from a labelmaker that reads "Go
away NSA".

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sickbeard
Or maybe he's just paranoid and you shouldn't jump off the cliff too

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barkerja
Does he do the same with his phone?

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kirykl
If the laptop is administered by Facebook's IT, maybe they have a way to use
the cameras clandestinely

(Unlikely with Apple's hardware but if I were an employee and the CEO was
taping I'd do it too)

