4 ms·

> I unplugged the microphone on my daughter's iMac years ago. Please note that a speaker may also act as a microphone if configured so (at software level). Thi

> I unplugged the microphone on my daughter's iMac years ago. Please note that a speaker may also act as a microphone if configured so (at software level). This is especially true for speakers/headphones connected via the jack.

CompuHacker 9y ago
It's likely an internal microphone and speaker; the sound card may not support input through that interface. What you're saying can be true for many other modern computers, though.
- lightedman 9y ago
  "the sound card may not support input through that interface" All of them do since the capability of auto-sensing sound cards emerged in the earlier 2000s. Those sound cards allowed you to plug a microphone into the speaker jack and it would detect it as a microphone, not a set of speakers. If you have anything that supports AC'97 or newer codec, you're almost guaranteed to have that vulnerability present.
- tripzilch 9y ago
  There was an article (a while ago) showing that at least one major brand of onboard sound cards has undocumented features to switch the audio-out jack port to input. Cheap headphone/earbuds function as a microphone too, so that's a thing. Only if you leave the earbuds plugged in, of course. It can't listen from an empty jack port. I (personally) think that intelligence/privacy-wise the mic on many devices is a lot more troubling than a camera. Camera is very directional and (again, personally for me) would at most result in embarrassment? While a microphone can record all conversations in a room/appartment, transmit everything with fairly negligible bandwidth, and taping over it won't do much good. You actually need to open the device and disconnect/cut a wire.
  - e12e 9y ago
    OT: @lightedman you're dead. Apparently due to some heated discussion on the term regression. But from a glance I couldn't find anything that stood out enough to warrant a ban. Might want to send an email and have your account unbanned.

CompuHacker 9y ago

It's likely an internal microphone and speaker; the sound card may not support input through that interface. What you're saying can be true for many other modern computers, though.

lightedman 9y ago
"the sound card may not support input through that interface" All of them do since the capability of auto-sensing sound cards emerged in the earlier 2000s. Those sound cards allowed you to plug a microphone into the speaker jack and it would detect it as a microphone, not a set of speakers. If you have anything that supports AC'97 or newer codec, you're almost guaranteed to have that vulnerability present.
tripzilch 9y ago
There was an article (a while ago) showing that at least one major brand of onboard sound cards has undocumented features to switch the audio-out jack port to input. Cheap headphone/earbuds function as a microphone too, so that's a thing. Only if you leave the earbuds plugged in, of course. It can't listen from an empty jack port. I (personally) think that intelligence/privacy-wise the mic on many devices is a lot more troubling than a camera. Camera is very directional and (again, personally for me) would at most result in embarrassment? While a microphone can record all conversations in a room/appartment, transmit everything with fairly negligible bandwidth, and taping over it won't do much good. You actually need to open the device and disconnect/cut a wire.
- e12e 9y ago
  OT: @lightedman you're dead. Apparently due to some heated discussion on the term regression. But from a glance I couldn't find anything that stood out enough to warrant a ban. Might want to send an email and have your account unbanned.