Remember the man who used his webcam and free webcam software to catch a burgler? In a twist, a peeping Tom has been caught spying on girls using their own webcams, connected to their own computers. He was able to do this thanks to the Subseven trojan.
Spanish authorities have arrested the man who spied on at least one woman through her webcam connected to her computer by activating the Trojan horse program, Subseven, which had already been installed on her computer. He originally selected his target and her webcam completely at random, more than three years ago! During the times he spied on her through her webcam, his target was completely unaware that she was being spied on. In fact, she only learned that her webcam had become the digital peeping Tom’s window when the perpetrator accidentally emailed pictures of her directly to her, rather than to a friend.
Oops.
According to Graham Cluely, senior technology consultant at Internet security company Sophos, “It’s remarkably simple to spy on another computer user, read their emails, watch which websites they visit, and even take pictures of them in front of their computer – if they have not taken the necessary precautions. We have seen a dramatic growth in Trojan horses which allow hackers to spy in this way.”
Cluely also explained that “The Subseven Trojan horse was possibly the first piece of malware to include the ability to take over a victim’s webcam, but it’s since become a standard part of the virus writer’s arsenal. Virtually every new instance of the Rbot internet worm, for instance, includes the capability to take photos and movies of unsuspecting computer users.”
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In otherwords, it’s an oldie but goodie.
In January Spanish authorities arrested a man and accused him of writing a virus which could also spy on users through their webcams.
Of course, it’s really not the fault of the two men – they just couldn’t help themselves, because nobody rejects a Spanish exhibition.
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Ive noticed my camera light flashes on and off recently and I suspect that someone is spying. A warning popped up saying another program is using the camera as well. How do I stop this??
My webcam has an indicator that lights up every time the camera is on. I think that it may help if more webcams had the same feature.
Aside fron all other security measures, when these fail as they do the victim will at least be alerted that the camera is taking pictures.
You know there are a bunch of guys out there having the time of their lives with reality tv. I’m sorry ladies, but in the immortal words of Tony the Tiger- Thaaat’s great!!
PS: (and this’ll make ya feel better) These guys will never get laid.