4 ms·

Or just install Oversight, it's free, does the same thing. And if you want you can support the author on Patreon. https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.

by drtse4 8y ago

Or just install Oversight, it's free, does the same thing. And if you want you can support the author on Patreon. https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.html https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.html

pidg 8y ago
I like that Micro Snitch's ears light up when the mic's in use, or his eyes light up when the camera's on, without the notification. As someone who uses audio/video capture apps a lot, it's a useful way to know at a glance whether certain apps are running properly.
skizm 8y ago
Is this open source? Is the code on github or something?
- drtse4 8y ago
  Not that I know, right now the only project that has been open sourced is Lulu, a firewall (https://github.com/objective-see?tab=repositories https://github.com/objective-see?tab=repositories).
crunchiebones 8y ago
why are these all for MacOS? are windows and linux not targeted by similar malware?
- LeoPanthera 8y ago
  Perhaps it's because Mac hardware is fairly homogeneous, so it's relatively easy to write software that targets every model. Who knows how many cameras and audio input devices exist for generic PCs. Probably most of them use standard APIs you could interrogate, but I bet not all of them.
- danieldk 8y ago
  Of course, other operating systems are vulnerable as well. The problem is more that for a long time the security model of Linux was that an attacker is interested in getting root access. This hasn't been true anymore since DDoS attacks, crypto mining, etc. became a thing. And in recent years, attacks have moved towards phishing, crypto lockers, etc. Though Linux for a long time still had the model that an application has the same rights as a user. As a result, virtually every app is able to use an audio device if the user has the right permissions and/or eavesdrop on other applications and limited possibilities for access control: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Documentation/Developer/AccessControl/ https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Documen... Similarly, X11 applications can snoop on keystrokes, mouse events, and other applications, etc. Luckily, there has been a strong push to change things. E.g. Pipewire is going to provide access control for sound devices and cameras, Wayland provides more GUI isolation between applications, and Flatpak/Bubblewrap are introducing application sandboxing at a larger scale.
  - philsnow 8y ago
    > X11 applications can snoop on keystrokes, mouse events, and other applications, etc Not just "X11 applications" but any process that can open your X unix domain socket (usually at somewhere like /tmp/.X11-unix/X0) or, god help you, connect to tcp://localhost:$((6000 + $DISPLAY_NUMBER)).
- tylerl 8y ago
  Have you ever tried getting audio capture to work on Linux? Now imagine trying to automate that workflow across devices as part of a spyware package. People would install it on purpose just to get their damn pulseaudio config sorted out.
TimTheTinker 8y ago
I came to say this. I've been using Oversight for a while and it's simple, free, and great.

by drtse4 8y ago

pidg 8y ago

I like that Micro Snitch's ears light up when the mic's in use, or his eyes light up when the camera's on, without the notification. As someone who uses audio/video capture apps a lot, it's a useful way to know at a glance whether certain apps are running properly.

skizm 8y ago

Is this open source? Is the code on github or something?

drtse4 8y ago
Not that I know, right now the only project that has been open sourced is Lulu, a firewall (https://github.com/objective-see?tab=repositories https://github.com/objective-see?tab=repositories).

crunchiebones 8y ago

why are these all for MacOS? are windows and linux not targeted by similar malware?

LeoPanthera 8y ago
Perhaps it's because Mac hardware is fairly homogeneous, so it's relatively easy to write software that targets every model. Who knows how many cameras and audio input devices exist for generic PCs. Probably most of them use standard APIs you could interrogate, but I bet not all of them.
danieldk 8y ago
Of course, other operating systems are vulnerable as well. The problem is more that for a long time the security model of Linux was that an attacker is interested in getting root access. This hasn't been true anymore since DDoS attacks, crypto mining, etc. became a thing. And in recent years, attacks have moved towards phishing, crypto lockers, etc. Though Linux for a long time still had the model that an application has the same rights as a user. As a result, virtually every app is able to use an audio device if the user has the right permissions and/or eavesdrop on other applications and limited possibilities for access control: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Documentation/Developer/AccessControl/ https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Documen... Similarly, X11 applications can snoop on keystrokes, mouse events, and other applications, etc. Luckily, there has been a strong push to change things. E.g. Pipewire is going to provide access control for sound devices and cameras, Wayland provides more GUI isolation between applications, and Flatpak/Bubblewrap are introducing application sandboxing at a larger scale.
- philsnow 8y ago
  > X11 applications can snoop on keystrokes, mouse events, and other applications, etc Not just "X11 applications" but any process that can open your X unix domain socket (usually at somewhere like /tmp/.X11-unix/X0) or, god help you, connect to tcp://localhost:$((6000 + $DISPLAY_NUMBER)).
tylerl 8y ago
Have you ever tried getting audio capture to work on Linux? Now imagine trying to automate that workflow across devices as part of a spyware package. People would install it on purpose just to get their damn pulseaudio config sorted out.

TimTheTinker 8y ago

I came to say this. I've been using Oversight for a while and it's simple, free, and great.