Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Your Devices' Latest Feature? They Can Spy On Your Every Move

Your Devices' Latest Feature? They Can Spy On Your Every Move | IFLScience:
"Your gadgets could be providing a window that any hacker could see right through to spy on you.
Your laptop has a video camera built into it.
When it’s recording, a little green light blinks on so you’re aware you’re being recorded.
But it can be instructed to videotape your activities without the green camera light being on. 
And this is not just an in-laboratory warning of a hypothetical danger; it has actually been done, by over-eager school officials and by peeping Toms.
At least you can turn off your laptop: when it is shut, the camera can see only “the other side” of the laptop.
But this quick fix doesn’t apply to sound recording devices, like microphones.

  • ...Your smart home monitor knows how many people are in your house and in which rooms at what times. 
  • Your smart water meter knows every time a toilet is flushed in your home. 
  • Your alarm clock knows what time you woke up each day last month. 
  • Your refrigerator knows every time you filled a glass of cold water. 
  • Your cellphone has a GPS built into it that can track your location, and hence record your movements. 

...Perhaps you don’t care about the privacy of criminals.
But note that surveillance is not just of known bad actors, but also of suspected bad actors.
...And it’s not just law enforcement overreach we have to worry about.
Technologies like Finspy are commercially available today to install malware on your computer or phone and “recruit” it to spy on you.
Such technologies could be used by anyone, including the “bad actors,” without the cooperation of your device manufacturer or service provider.
...Finally, this may feel futuristic, but I assure you it is not. 
The FBI was already using a cellphone microphone to eavesdrop on organized crime as long as a decade ago.
Commercial interests are not too far behind in doing much the same, with the purpose of targeting a better sales pitch.
Our omnipresent networked devices raise big questions that we should openly debate.
How we balance these costs and benefits will determine the type of society we live in."

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