In the news: Soon to be published, Skype back-door trojan code?

[Rick Stevens]

Tim wrote:
> On Tue, 2009-09-01 at 14:46 -0700, Daniel B. Thurman wrote:
>> read on down the page where it's possible that Skype can remotely view
>> and listen via your webcam.
> 
> That sounds like tinfoil hat rumouring, but I have seen something
> similarly disconcerting, with flash on some pages:  While viewing the
> odd page with flash on, I've noticed the "on" light for my webcam light
> up.  Of course, I can't tell if that's just because a driver has woken
> up something, or if the camera is actually sending.  But my flash
> preferences were set to always deny access.
> 
> Unfortunately, this webcam is one built into my laptop, so simply
> disconnecting is not an option.  I've opened up as much of the laptop as
> I can without risking breaking bits, and I can't find a connection for
> the camera.  So mine has tape over it, now.

Just find the ID codes for the webcam and blacklist it in modprobe.
If the driver isn't loaded, the camera can't be used.  You might also
want to mute the microphone using your favorite volume control app.
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- Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer                      ricks at nerd.com -
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