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> I (like to) believe that this light is controlled by the camera's firmware, i.e., it can't be manipulated by software? Hit and miss. If it can be controlle
by shakna 7y ago
> I (like to) believe that this light is controlled by the camera's firmware, i.e., it can't be manipulated by software?
Hit and miss.
If it can be controlled by the camera's firmware, then it can be controlled by software. All it takes is a bug in the firmware, which is unlikely to ever be updated.
Some camera lights are controlled by the firmware, others are wired onto the data line, so the moment data is going either way, they light up.
However, defeating the light even in the directly wired case is possible, and has been done many times. If you fire up the camera, take a photo, and turn off quickly enough, the light won't be perceived by the victim. (I believe the FBI and the NSA both had tools that did this that became public knowledge a number of years ago).
- gumby 7y ago> All it takes is a bug in the firmware, which is unlikely to ever be updated. FWIW, Apple system (OS) updates frequently include firmware updates, not only for the FEP/boot code but other devices as well, especially for security issues. Apple has been pretty good about this. Not addressing the rest of your comment, just this one point. PS: don’t know why the phones don’t have a similar indicator for “front camera on” and “speaker mode on”. BOM cost I suppose.
- lloda 7y agoThe hardware could easily be designed so that whenever the light is turned on, it cannot be turned off for a second or w/e. Seems like an obvious solution.
- moooo99 7y agoiirc some laptops do this. As soon as there is data transmitted from the camera, the light will turn on. Another solution would be the sliding camera cover some manufacturers have, but that doesn't really help with the built in microphone.