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I've been asking everyone I know questions about this to make them realize how intense the total surveillance possibilities are. "How many internet-connected m
by cryptoz 12y ago
I've been asking everyone I know questions about this to make them realize how intense the total surveillance possibilities are.
"How many internet-connected microphones are in the same room as you?"
It's astonishing how big that number gets. For me right now, it's ~50. And so many of them are made by different companies, assembled in different countries, etc. The chance that someone, somewhere, can listen to you is nearly 100% if you're in a semi-public space. We're living in a dramatically more invasive surveillance society than 1984 ever predicted (that was just street cameras & one 'telescreen' in your home).
And then, add into this mix that we have new market acceptance for devices that intentionally open this behaviour: XBox One, Moto X, Amazon's...whatevertheycallit. There's not only technical capability, but also increasing consumer desire. It's crazy.
Further edits: There's a lot more at stake here, too, if you extrapolate from their[1] known capabilities and combine with actors who may also have motives at large scale. Take Facebook's mood-altering study, for example. We know that someone/Facebook has the ability to alter the moods and opinions of large groups of populations. The same actors can also listen/watch those people in real time. Dystopian scenarios of totalitarian governments exercising total population thought-control is more and more plausible as we all trade our privacy and security to giant corporations in exchange for mere convenience in our daily lives.
[1]: Who is 'they'? I don't know, but there are many possible 'they's and it might be many of them.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoMost notebook computers have video cameras built into the display's frame, at the top. These cameras typically have a light that powers on when the camera is in use. However there is nothing at all to indicate that the computer has its audio microphone in use.
- click170 12y agoA quick google search shows that some cameras can be activated without that little LED coming online.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoI was once paid specifically to figure out a way to activate a camera without turning on the light. However in that case it was for a legitimate purpose.
- spacefight 12y agoOut of curiosity - what was that legitimation? Can you tell?
- fluidcruft 12y agoOne idea: I can easily imagine research studies getting IRB approval for this. The red light could alter the subject's behavior, and video analysis could be part of the metrics (for measuring attention/distraction or gross estimates of gaze, etc).
- everyTime 12y agoReally? Because I can't. I can't imagine an IRB-approved research study that requires a software solution (developed under an NDA) to a hardware problem that couldn't be solved with a one-inch square of black electrical tape. For the price of a contracted software developer, you could simply buy a model of laptop (or smart phone), in which the bezel can be pried open without substantial damage, and behind the LED's transparent aperture (but obscuring the LED), you fix a tidbit of black tape or whichever opaque material you may prefer. Or, better yet, for pretty much every situation that doesn't involve eye-movement tracking, simply install a hidden security camera at an opportunistic vantage point.
- fluidcruft 12y agoAn IRB would only care about whether the deception perpetrated on the subject is justifiable. They wouldn't care one iota how the light was disabled--the risk to the subject is the same regardless of whether the light is disabled by hardware or software or not used. For example a BYOD type study might be plausible because in some circumstances subjects may be more comfortable/candid using their own devices. Who knows. The issues for the IRB would only be the fact that the subjects are not consented to covert surveillance and whether the nature of the information collected presents a risk to the subject if accidentally disclosed.
- iak8god 12y ago> These cameras typically have a light that powers on when the camera is in use. Yes, typically, but sometimes not when used by parties who want to obscure their use of the camera [1]. [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/18/research-shows-how-macbook-webcams-can-spy-on-their-users-without-warning/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/18...
- bennettfeely 12y agoHas Apple done anything to fix this yet?
- rasz_pl 12y agoThat was Badusb before Badusb. iSight is USB, and its firmware was (and probably still is) not authenticating in any way before firmware update.
- 0942v8653 12y agoI'm pretty sure that (on my MacBook Air, anyway) you only need to get a kext installed for the camera to not light up.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoI know some ways around that.
- fru2013 12y agoPlease share.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoI could tell you but then I'd have to kill you. Well OK... More or less like writing any kind of virus. Apple likes to claim that OS X is more secure. In reality, most of those who write malware own Windows boxen.
- arm 12y agoI don’t think you fully understood what 0942v8653 said; why would you write malware to perform the default behaviour (the LED turning on when the camera is on)?
- lawnchair_larry 12y agoThey don't work on macbooks.
- revelation 12y agoYou make it sound as if that is some kind of security revelation. In reality, what you are saying is 'the light is controlled in software'. Which is just another way of saying "that light is just a light, and it has only a tenuous connection to the camera being enabled". Which is of course an utter joke.
- 12y ago
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoMany eBook readers will phone home about what you're reading. It's bad enough that Amazon would know what ebooks I've purchased. The Kindle will tell Amazon what pages I've read and when I read them. There is a damn good reason I don't even own an ebook reader.
- rmxt 12y agoNot even an Android tablet loaded with an AOSP ROM, F-Droid and CoolReader? http://coolreader.org/e-index.htm http://coolreader.org/e-index.htm
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoHey thanks for that. I might buy the reader that Portland's Powells City of Books sells, but have not yet looked into whether it phones home.
- mahyarm 12y agoeh, it's 50-50. Some people like that ebook reader picks up from where you left off from another device.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoI'd be completely cool with that, were the implementation of that feature to only communicate between devices that I myself own.
- stefantalpalaru 12y ago> There is a damn good reason I don't even own an ebook reader. On my Kobo Aura HD I was able to disable the snitching and with the sideloading working so great I had no reason to turn on the wi-fi since I bought it.
- PhantomGremlin 12y ago> There's not only technical capability, but also increasing consumer desire. After "baby boomers", "Gen X", etc., I think the most appropriate name for today's kids is "the selfie generation". They're flattered if you stalk them. I wish I was kidding.
- asdrty 12y agoAnd many people don't know why their battery is getting sucked dried too quickly
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoFor quite a long time, I only used my Win2k box through a Linux IP Masquerading gateway. But during a long stay at a hotel, while looking for a new place to live, I noticed that my dialup modem activity lights flickered even when I myself wasn't doing anything online. I asked a friend who recommended a firewall product whose name escapes me just now. Most coders think of a "firewall" as a way to keep bad packets out. This firewall would also keep bad packets _in_. It identified the miscreant as the Welchia worm. What Welchia does is to install some completely legitimate Win2k security updates, as well as installing itself on some other Win2k box. The only really _bad_ thing it did was to slow down my network.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoPoor city-dwellers, always in a crowd. I spend the larger part of every day in a house in the country, with maybe 1 cell phone in the house but probably not in earshot. Didn't know I was so unusual!
- joncooper 12y agoI remember back in the day /dev/audio had bad default permissions on, I think, SunOS, and you could just cat it to a file to record.