Security of webcams

Regarding the webcam in my laptop surely when you don't see the light it is not on and when you have turned the laptop off nothing is happening.

I don't see any need to start altering settings or am I naive.

I have security and a fire wall on my laptop doesn't this come into play if anything is not right!!!

My daughter has popped a sticky star (yes same as you get for the kids in school) over her webcam on her iPad and computer but also over her phone camera that faces her (as you can turn the picture around to take a selfie) so in theory they can also watch what you do or around you if hacked. But isn’t it sad that people do that!
I remember a tv programme a while ago whereby the programme informed this elderly couple that their movements within their home had been watched on a site worldwide via a WiFi home security system, including someone in France watching them for over 8 hours in total! Totally creepy imo yet we’re encouraged to invest in home security and additional services in the home via our WiFi. Really don’t know how to do this safely

Whiterabbit, that is scary. I have sticking plaster over ours. Our separate webcam is still in the loft,we never connected it. Now Ive discovered the built in camera can be turned off I will be doing that. I use Facebook but am very careful what I put on it. I keep it very general, books, music,local news, book groups that kind of thing. I also don't have where I work or any personal stuff. I change the password for it every so often. I mainly text or use WhatsApp. I store photos on an external hardrive. Does anyone here know how secure 'Cloud' is? I am very wary of using that too.

I hate webcams so never use mine. I've stuck of piece of sticky plaster over it.

Your computer can't hear you. If you've entered a search for a cruise holiday, for example, it's going to use the data in the search to advertise high end holidays to you using pop -up ads. If you search for camping holidays, the sort of ads you're going to get are also hiking, walking and adventure holidays; outdoor wear, bikes, binoculars and travel insurance. If you've searched for camping holidays a day or two after looking at Per Una clothes, you'd get caravan holidays popping up, with walk-in showers, wide-fit shoes, varifocal glasses, and audio books e.g.

It's all about profiling. The same ads that you'd find in a Saga magazine are not going to pop up if a teenager profile has been picked up purely by the searches entered.

Try this: search teenage things on one computer, and then search grandparent things on another.

No, not a coincidence NfkDumpling.

Don't forget Bradford Lass that many have photographs of children and grandchildren stored on their computers, and strangers can take those and do what they like with them on porn sites.

Last evening we were discussing our (hopeful) plans for a holiday in Uganda. My iPad was active on it’s stand next to me as I’d also been posting remarks to my DD1 on FB (I can multi-task!). I started ready out details of a place in Tanzania from a brochure I was flicking through. Within a minute a post popped up on FB on the iPad next to me for Tanzanian safaris. Coincidence?

I used to have a neighbour, long before the advent of webcams who believed people could see into her home.

When I asked her how this was possible she said she didn't know but it was obvious they could because she could see into Annie Walker's pub and Ena Sharples' house.

I thought she was a little loopy but since that time I have met several people, sane and sensible apparrently, who think exactly the same.

It's barmy, a little like the thousands who flood studios with wedding or baby gifts when one of the characters (not the actors) is about to marry or have a child.

I turn my computer off when not in use. If anyone hacks into it whilst I'm sitting here, all they'll see is my ugly mug and my spare bed in the background. Wildly exciting.

And as for selling my photos to a porn site, I have to wonder why they'd want (and how much they'd get for) pictures of flowers, wild birds and my grandson's cat.

I use an iPad most of the time and hadn’t even thought about the camera being a “security problem”. ?. I only ever use it to FaceTime my family, when it is obviously very useful. Is there a way to stop the iPad camera allowing visual and audible access to my home when I’m not using it, without making FT impossible?

Thank you for your helpful replies. I have disabled the camera again. The last time I put one of those small round plasters over it and some websites denied access, so I disabled it. I turned it on again to help GS with his homework, and was uncomfortable with the pop-up messages that someone/an app somewhere was activating it. So it's off.

Sussexborn the same happened to me. My D and I had been chatting about something and the next thing adverts appeared on screen. Very unnerving I agree.

Thanks for reminding me about this! I taped over the lens on my ipad ages ago and have just this minute used some tape to cover up the webcam lens here on my laptop! I live alone so I imagine that even the most dedicated hacker might get fed up with listening to me playing with the dog or talking to my friend on the phone about our various ailments {grin]

Putting tape over the camera does not stop the sound being picked up. Isn't it still possible for them to hear what the camera hears?

Always keep the camera lense covered with tape for security as they can get into your system and see what you are doing, better to be safe than sorry.

My late daughter was a cyber security analyst and would not have anything to do with Facebook. In her opinion it is a licence for anyone to snoop on everything in your life.

I always cover my webcam screen with a strip of tape, you can't be too careful.

It’s worrying that there is always a scammer who’s one step ahead.

Our camera is on the garage looking down our drive so it cannot film us. It usually only picks up our cats & a few foxes but someone did come down our drive a few weeks ago - presumably to try & get into our garage- he looked up & saw it- it lights up when activated- & he made a very quick exit!

I'd heard of this before and have a piece of paper over the webcam on my laptop - I didn't realise you could actually switch it off until I read this forum. It is now switched off.
Thank you all

Sussexborn, that's the reason why these baddies who want to look into or enter your home do so surreptitiously - the same way that hackers do. Simply drawing the curtains across doesn't stop a determined baddie, in the same way that sticking a piece of paper over the cam lens would not stop a determined hacker.

I reiterate - if a hacker got as far as your cam lens, their view of your room should be the least of your worries.

whiterabbit01 Wed 23-Oct-19 11:08:29 I get those every day. I have never opened them, just mark them as phishing and hope that has some effect.

Anyone looking at my webcam will either see my face or my bookshelf, doubt they will be interested in either.

If someone is looking at you through your actual window there is every likelihood that you will see them and, at the very least, close the blinds.

Slightly more worrying is that “they” seem to be able to hear what is being said. I was talking to my OH and said that we could do with new curtains. Immediately ads for curtains popped up. Tried different suggestions and the same thing happened!

Nothing surprises me nowadays it’s horrendous the things these ppl can get into: we don’t use a webcam but do use social media not Facebook but the others are in use, we are being watched from all sides

Yes I've got for the bit of paper over the webcam approach too. Simple to do.

I can barely get the webcam to work when I want it to - it's so temperamental! Seriously, people - think about it - if anyone can hack into your computer to see inside your room, they'd be far more interested in your bank details and other important data, wouldn't they? We don't have the same paranoia about the large windows of our houses, after all, and people can definitely see in if they try hard enough.

My advice, disconnect your camera via the USB socket when you are not using your webcam; or, if its an inbuilt laptop webcam, disable it via your task manager (Cntl-Alt-Delete opens task manager), then disable the webcam by turning off (End Task command) the appropriate background application. If you are not sure, there are lots of advice you can find via Google, for example:

www.howtogeek.com/424862/how-to-see-which-apps-are-using-your-webcam-on-windows-10/.

I started getting emails several months ago saying they had recorded me watching pornography {among other things} and had access to all my email addresses. They said if I didn't sent them £800 they would send recordings of what they suggested I was doing and watching to all my contacts, that included family and friends.

I knew straight away that it was a con because although they had an old password of mine that I'd changed a few years ago (probably lifted from an old game account from an insecure gaming server), there was no way they had done what they said they had done because for one I don't watch pornography online and secondly I always unplug my webcam when not in use. (I only use it when talking to online friends).

I mentioned this to a cousin of mine and he said he'd received exactly the same message. I continued to receive the same email, though with slightly different wording several times until it ended.

I think this scam started shortly after a film had been shown on national TV about a young guy who was doing what these scum had suggested I was doing and had then been blackmailed, (I can't remember the name of the film)