FBI Director James Comey has defended his decision to cover his webcam with tape after he was widely mocked for his no-frills security tip earlier this year.
The FBI boss said that physically covering the webcam on his laptop is common sense and a step that everyone should follow.
‘There’s some sensible things you should be doing, and that’s one of them,’ Comey said during a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Understand, he has probably seen video from investigations of people who had no idea they were being watched, and he has been briefed on how easily it can be done – and knows how often it is done, just for fun, by agents doing monitoring with nothing better to do on a slow stakeout. People have no idea the resources out there for this, or how often these tools are used for fun while they are supposed to be idled.
Also note, on most laptops you have to open the case, and follow the mic wire from the web cam mic to the main board. Where they meet, there will be a (usually) small white plastic plug. You have to disconnect that, or hackers can still listen in to everything that goes on around your laptop. Obviously you would need to reconnect that before you could use the web cam to video conference. I would not trust a simple piece of tape over the mic opening, if I were doing sensitive activities. Of course if your cell phone has the battery in it, on your desk right next to your computer, you might as well not bother.
When the Apocalypse comes, assume you are being watched, because the watching is everywhere, and you are not designed to see it. Don’t think because a quick look around indicates that nobody is around, you can just act as you want. You can’t assume anything today.
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