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Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera and audio mic jack
- crispytx 10y agoI did that too after the "Snowden Revelations"!
- satyajeet23 10y agoI cover it too, perhaps everyone should.
- milesokeefe 10y agoThe page is now down, here's a reupload of the image Zuckerberg posted: http://i.imgur.com/3oNniEh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/3oNniEh.jpg Zoomed in with the covers outlined: http://i.imgur.com/laM8qEJ.png http://i.imgur.com/laM8qEJ.png
- satyajeet23 10y agoThe link is working fine, page is not down.
- milesokeefe 10y agoHuh, must have to do with my FB session. Still shows as missing from my account but loads fine in incognito.
- jedberg 10y agoHe's the CEO of a multibillion dollar company. He's legally required to be paranoid to meet his fiduciary responsibilities.
- satyajeet23 10y agoIndeed!
- asax 10y agoWhy cover the audio mic jack?
- satyajeet23 10y agoCheck out the last paragraph here: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/webcams-mics/ https://www.wired.com/2014/03/webcams-mics/
- jonknee 10y ago> Muting the mic won’t work, since it’s possible for an intruder to unmute it. Your best defense is probably to insert a dummy plug into the microphone jack to prevent sound from being picked up by the internal mic. You can create a dummy plug by simply cutting off the unneeded portion of an old microphone plug. This won’t prevent someone from listening to your conversations when you need the mic, such as when using Skype, but it will at least thwart them from using the microphone on their own without you knowing. The question stands, why tape the headphone jack? The microphone is not inside the headphone jack.
- unicornporn 10y agoPut a dummy plug in there and seal with tape?
- jonknee 10y agoBut that's not where the microphone is (think about it, a microphone stuck down a port wouldn't work well at all).
- zeta0134 10y agoRight, but having a dummy plug will cause the vast majority of laptops to disable their built-in microphones and instead listen to whatever you plugged in. (In the case of a dummy, this would result in a dead line.) The idea is to fool the system into having no physical microphone, and even a hacker/malware that compromises the operating system is going to have a hard time dealing with whatever soundcard firmware is responsible for making that switch in the hardware.
- baconhigh 10y agoyet he used the password "dadada"
- beamatronic 10y agoIs that confirmed? Do you have a source for that? Wow.
- HappyTypist 10y agoJust Google it...
- skynetv2 10y agoHe may be doing it to prevent snooping from Corporate spies, hackers, and the like, not just for privacy, even if the reason of privacy is ironic.
- pigeons 10y agoHow is "prevent snooping from Corporate spies, hackers, and the like" not exactly "for privacy"?
- capote 10y agoI don't get this. If someone gets unauthorized access to your computer's camera, all this prevents is them seeing your face staring into your computer. This doesn't solve the underlying problem of someone getting unauthorized access to your computer. It just solves the problem of someone seeing your face, which is not such a terrible problem to have, at least if you're as handsome as I am. Just covering up the camera is like putting a bandaid on a small cut when you have internal bleeding.
- zeta0134 10y agoAll sorts of people do all sorts of things in their bedrooms that have nothing to do with their face staring into their computers. There have been quite a few instances of livestreamers forgetting to turn off their streams, and accidentally broadcasting themselves naked, or having sex with their partners. I personally don't have any cameras in my room for this reason, but the risk of capturing something sensitive is quite real.
- capote 10y agoI suppose. The underlying problem is still greater, though, than someone seeing you having sex. Someone getting unauthorized access to your webcam, I'd imagine, has the ability and skill to do much worse than look at you naked (which, on the other hand, would be problematic to me because my body is flabby and unattractive). Wouldn't a better solution be software-based, or some more advanced hardware (like added network security)? But this picture is taken at an office, where presumably sex isn't happening, and anything confidential will likely not be in large font on a sheet of paper held up in front of a camera that is presumed inactive.
- bennylope 10y agoHow about this: Mark Zuckerberg poses for picture sitting next to [someone's MacBook] with covered camera and audio jack.
- dogma1138 10y agoThat's his office, it's quite known that he sits in the open space with all of the employees, I don't think there are any private offices in Facebook other than finance/payroll and some HR which are private due to regulations.
- bennylope 10y agoSure, and none of that means that's his desk or his computer. Unless you have specific knowledge about what he keeps on his desk, this entire thread is a lot of silly speculation based on an unwarranted assumption.
- x1798DE 10y agoI don't know why I would care about Zuckerberg in particular doing this, but while we're on the topic, can anyone recommend a decent retractable camera cover for mounting on a laptop?
- threeio 10y ago"Nope." http://www.bungajungle.com/products/nope http://www.bungajungle.com/products/nope I use these on my work machines, however I suggest placing the magnet combo vertically as opposed to horizontally like in the photo so that it defaults into that position. [Yes I know I could get thin magnets much cheaper from somewhere else, I give them credit because they were the first one I found when looking for a solution a few years ago]
- T0k9sY 10y agoWhat benefit would it be using tape over the jack hole? The built in mic I could understand. But, surely it wouldn't work unless something was plugged in? Or is it a reminder to himself and yo prevent him from pluging in headphones with inline microphone? Genuinely curious.
- astrodust 10y agoOn the MacBook that's a combination 3.5mm audio jack and SPDIF port, one that can emit laser light if it's confused about what's plugged in or not. So it could be to block that light, or to prevent cruft from going into it, or to fight the urge to use headphones at work.
- drvdevd 10y agoDoes this make any sense in an open workspace where you're surrounded by a million other laptops and cell phones anyway?