I am not trying to become a conspiracy theorist here or even get you frightened, but the risks that come with technology, in general, is very real and one way to stay a little safer is to cover your webcam.
The first thing that will come to many of us is that since we are not popular and part of the VIPs of the society, there is no one that will bother enough to spy on us. That may be very true, but the truth is that there are bugs on the internet that help and make it very easy to access your webcam and record whatever they want. This is most especially if you visit some sites. The worst part of the whole thing is that you may never even get to know when you are hacked.
The tech and security big boys cover their webcams
This may come as a surprising one, but people like Mark Zuckerberg who understand the internet as much as many of us can never get to, have decided to have taped over their webcams. Not just Mark, it is also suspected that Edward Snowden also makes use of tapes over his webcams.
Security experts such as James Comey, the former FBI director have confirmed that they are covering their webcam.
The Security Risk
Trust me, there are many risks associated with the webcam. It doesn’t really take as much as you can think for someone to spy on you through your webcam without even accessing your system. In 2013, Miss Teen USA was blackmailed by a man who secretly spied on her and recorded her using the webcam on her laptop.
The man, 20-year-old Jared James Abrahams hacked into the webcam of different women at the time and got their naked pictures which he used to blackmail them. He hacked the computers of around 100 to 150 women.
See Also: 14 Smart Ways To Hack-Proof Your Smartphone & Get Maximum Security
When you are done covering your webcam, the problem is reduced but not taken off completely because you still have your phone cameras, and other things that may have cameras or microphones and you can be hacked through them. That is another bad news.
You Can Turn on the Webcam Mistakenly
Hackers can hardly get to turn on your webcam without you helping them turn it on. The way they do that is to send some links that may seem very innocent to you on posts or emails and once you do it, they will get to access and record whatever they want.
The freedom you get with it
For those that are suspecting and scared they may be hacked, there is that sense of comfort that comes with knowing that you are protected when you cover your webcam.
Cover your webcam like MarkZuckerbergg
“Any internet-connected device that has a camera attached to it will likely have a microphone built-in as well, turning them into perfect spying tools if remotely controlled by hackers,” said Liviu Arsene, Senior E-Threat Analyst at cybersecurity firm Bitdefender.
