Did That Rent-To-Own Computer Spy on You?
spectrum.ieee.org
spectrum.ieee.org
Shouldn't the LED's be controlled on the hardware side to make it impossible to turn on the webcam without having an LED show up?
Having software control the LED is only making it easier for people to keep using laptops as remote spying devices. Granted some industrious peeping tom could always take the laptop apart and disable the LED from the hardware side, but that takes a lot more work than just downloading some software that will do it for you.
Did the article say something about an LED being disabled? If so, I missed it. I think the issue is that anti-theft software was intentionally activated, which turned the webcam on and streamed it to another location, where store employees indulged their voyeurism.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9158818/Pennsylvania_...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_...
On the laptops the LED was hardwired to camera power but the software go around it by momentary activating the camera and taking pictures.
You would only get a rather slight flicker occasionally.
My guess is that the LEDs weren't disabled, and that's how they got caught. Either that or they physically opened the laptop and disabled the light entirely before renting it out.
I have considered putting some aluminum foil in front of it, though.
Secondly, I can imagine if rent to own places turned on the camera whenever the computer was on, people would just get used to it. Make it normal and nobody doubts you.
Thirdly, I would say that most of the people using rent to own services aren't interested in the inner workings of computer hardware, or even understand basic computer topics. To these people, it is a tool required by school, work, or casual use. Even if you told them that it would record you, they'd not have an idea to stop it, perhaps other than tape. And tape doesn't stop audio recording, or remote takeover software.