Am I the only one who doesn't have a microphone or webcam in my laptop these days (6 year old Lenovo T61)? It didn't come with a webcam and I unplugged the mic.
On my desktop PC, I plug in the webcam when I need to use it for Skype, and unplug it when it's not in use. Nothing can be used remotely when it's not plugged in!
Ostensibly yes, though I suppose it depends on the make/model of the laptop and webcam. Someone with pretty solid reversing skills would need to figure it out for that specific laptop or line or laptops.
I've read that it can be possible on some makes and models although most of them employ a system where when the camera is active then electricity passes to it, it passes through the LED first so to even reach the camera the LED has to be illuminated therefore making it not possible.
That would be hardware-specific, but probably _always_ independently controllable. It's not like the IC manufacturer is going to link the CCD to an LED.
Certainly not arguing that it's difficult. It's extremely trivial.
It just makes no business sense for the camera manufacturer. The CCD is a generic chip that spews clocked image data over some serial connection. Keep it simple and generic, and ship to any business who wants it.
You can have a camera controller IC/ASIC/FPGA/µcontroller one step up from the CCD that manages the CCD and LEDs. That would have either firmware or hardware support for LEDs, but you'd still imagine that it would be configurable for cases where there is no LED installed.
It's absolutely possible, and I don't know all the options out there, but I can't imagine a manufacturer shipping an off-the-shelf IC that _always_ ties an LED to CCD operation.
Sometimes companies try to act in their customer's best interest. Or at least in such a way that they don't risk customers turning away. I noticed this story on HN quite recently: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241003
1. The CCD IC controls the LED
2. A intermediate IC has firmware that controls the CCD and LED
It is safe to assume that the LED is always controlled either by an OS driver, or by an intermediate firmware. I doubt it would ever be controlled by the 'final' camera IC.
This means that, for Macbooks, running the CCD without the LED is _very difficult_, but, if the camera supports firmware upgrades, it is possible. And there could be undocumented commands to enable video without the LED.
If you're afraid of script-kiddies watching you read Reddit, you can probably trust the LED. If you're afraid the NSA has identified you as a special target, you probably cannot.
I would be more useful if someone made a sticker of some sort that allows you to cover the camera when you don't need it, and pull off easily when you do. Maybe a little magnet would do the trick.
Being on HN I expected this to be something about storing and analysing everything the wifi picks up or something along that line. This is pretty disappointing with that expectation.
I notice the payment form is US-centric (it demands a state, I told it n/a). Really quite fitting, given that the NSA isn't supposed to spy on Americans.
