“New worries for the always-connected crowd: Attackers may remotely activate your webcam — without tripping the warning light — and remotely record your every activity, public and private,” Mathew J. Schwartz reports for InformationWeek. “Is it time to invest in some masking tape?”
“For years, malware known as remote-access tools (RATs) have included the ability to surreptitiously activate microphones and webcams — dubbed ‘camjacking’ — amongst other nefarious activities, such as sucking up all of your bank account details,” Schwartz reports. “To avoid RAT attacks, security experts already recommend keeping all operating systems and installed applications up to date. But should everyday users — meaning people who aren’t information security experts or Syrian dissidents — be concerned about camjacking attacks? More to the point, should everyone cover up their webcams when not in use?”
Schwartz reports, “The FBI in 2010 accused Luis Mijangos of sextortion attacks against 230 people, including 44 minors, which involved his compromising their PCs and attempting to extort them into providing sexually explicit videos. Earlier this year, the bureau also arrested Karen ‘Gary’ Kazaryan, charging him with running a similar sextortion campaign against 350 women between 2009 and 2011.”
Read more in the full article here.
