| reply to XoX
Re: Software on rented PCs can spy on you But the story is not about keyloggers. It's about webcam enabled spyware. A REAL invasion of privacy.
And manufacturers SHOULD take some responsibility on what they sell to people as "harmless and useful."
Like I said, it takes less than a nickel's worth of plastic to put a sliding shutter over a webcam lens or insert a physical cam kill switch on a laptop or desktop webcam. The only reason consumers aren't screaming for this feature already is because there haven't been enough publicized incidents where people actually realize they are being spied upon.
According to Panda Labs, 35.51% of ALL computers in the world are infected with some form of malware.
»www.tech21century.com/china-has-···e-world/
quote:
China on top of contaminated countries
The average number of infected computers around the world amounts to 35.51%, almost three percentage points lower compared with 2011, according to figures obtained by the technology of Collective Intelligence of Panda Security. China is again leader in this ranking (54.25% of infected computers), followed by Taiwan and Turkey
I don't want to argue over the nitpicking details of whether or not that number is accurate, but at the very least, there are 100's of Millions of infected machines out there whose owners haven't even the first inkling of a clue that they are even infected.
Potentially every single last one of them is an invasion of personal privacy of not only your bank info and CC#, but also your own personal image as you wander around your own home in the altogether.
Basically we allow manufacturers to get away with lazy, sloppy, dangerous hardware and software designs, because we are a lazy and sloppy people as a whole. |
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 pnjunctionTeksavvy ExtremePremium
join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON
kudos:1 | said by lugnut :But the story is not about keyloggers. It's about webcam enabled spyware. A REAL invasion of privacy. What...as embarrassing as it would be I'd rather someone have pictures of me picking my nose or whatever than have keylogged the logins to my bank and investment accounts.
The first would be embarrassing, the second could clean out all of my accounts. |
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| said by pnjunction:said by lugnut :But the story is not about keyloggers. It's about webcam enabled spyware. A REAL invasion of privacy. What...as embarrassing as it would be I'd rather someone have pictures of me picking my nose or whatever than have keylogged the logins to my bank and investment accounts. The first would be embarrassing, the second could clean out all of my accounts. Well considering that I've NEVER been stupid enough to do either my banking or my investing on my computer, PRIVACY IS my only real concern here. |
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| ... if you think banking on a PC is stupid, how do you do your banking? |
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| said by urbanriot:... if you think banking on a PC is stupid, how do you do your banking?
Phone and fax telebanking secure landline only. No cordless... |
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 Wolfie00My dog is an elitistPremium
join:2005-03-12
kudos:5 | reply to lugnut
said by lugnut :Well considering that I've NEVER been stupid enough to do either my banking or my investing on my computer, ...
LOL! 
Know what the biggest security risk is in today's world? Not understanding technology. I present the above-quoted statement as "Exhibit A" of a prime example. |
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 TLS2000Crazy CanuckPremium
join:2004-02-24
Mississauga, ON
 ·TekSavvy Cable
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to lugnut
said by lugnut :said by urbanriot:... if you think banking on a PC is stupid, how do you do your banking?
Phone and fax telebanking secure landline only. No cordless... Secure landline? Are you joking?
--
Tom |
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| said by TLS2000:said by lugnut :said by urbanriot:... if you think banking on a PC is stupid, how do you do your banking?
Phone and fax telebanking secure landline only. No cordless... Secure landline? Are you joking? At least two or three orders of magnitude more secure than your packets bouncing from router to router, from botnet to botnet.  |
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| reply to TLS2000
BTW comedians, it takes considerably less effort to plant a web bug in an advertisement that exploits an unpatched, undocumented, windows vulnerability than it does to tap a home phone line for the sake of stealing personal info.
So Bite Me! |
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| reply to lugnut
Re: Software on rented PCs can spy on you
Coming! |
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 LazManPremium
join:2003-03-26
canada | reply to lugnut
said by lugnut :BTW comedians, it takes considerably less effort to plant a web bug in an advertisement that exploits an unpatched, undocumented, windows vulnerability than it does to tap a home phone line for the sake of stealing personal info.
So Bite Me!
So, keep your AV and anti-malware up to date, apply patches as they are released, and set your firewall to the most restrictive settings that still allow normal use? Online computing 101.
As for the webcam 'concern' you've got - it's entirely possible to order a laptop without a built in one, and add an external USB one when you want to use it; and then remove it again after...
I do find it a little strange, that of all the angles and positions to take on this story, the lack of a physical off switch or cover over the built in webcam making if the hardware manufacturer's fault - NEVER would have occured to me...  |
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| reply to lugnut
You have made me laugh so hard today it's not funny. It's easier to go through your garbage and find out your details. Secure landline, that's a joke. |
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pnjunctionTeksavvy ExtremePremium
join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON
kudos:1 | reply to lugnut
said by lugnut :At least two or three orders of magnitude more secure than your packets bouncing from router to router, from botnet to botnet.
Those packets are all encrypted. You do know that all someone needs to do is connect a phone to your line and they can hear everything loud and clear right?
I also laugh when you mention no cordless. The scrambled digital signal of a modern cordless phone would be much harder to crack than to just splice your 'secure' phone line and listen. |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | reply to Wolfie00
Re: Software on rented PCs can spy on you said by Wolfie00: Know what the biggest security risk is in today's world? Not understanding technology. In that case I'm screwed.
On the other hand my family can't laugh at me anymore for putting electrical tape over any laptops lenses we get for all these years. |
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Wolfie00My dog is an elitistPremium
join:2005-03-12
kudos:5 | said by peterboro:On the other hand my family can't laugh at me anymore for putting electrical tape over any laptops lenses we get for all these years.
And we thank you for it. What the world does not need is any risk of seeing peterboro  with no pants. |
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peterboroAvatars are for posersPremium
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON | Little chance of that as fortunately my head, including eyeballs, was installed at the opposite end of my body meaning my legs and gotchies would not be visible on a laptop cam.
That of course does not preclude the fact you may use a laptop in an unconventional means not replicated my myself. |
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pnjunctionTeksavvy ExtremePremium
join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON
kudos:1 | reply to peterboro
said by peterboro:On the other hand my family can't laugh at me anymore for putting electrical tape over any laptops lenses we get for all these years. While effective and foolproof there are ways to make sure it is disabled in software. For example if the driver is not installed, or the device is disabled in device manager. |
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Reviews:
 ·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to lugnut
lug, you are going a bit far not using Internet Banking.
Because you know what? That secure land line is going to someone in a bank who is filling in forms on a local network that is connected almost the SAME way as you are on your computer.
--
»www.codecipher.com - Marking the way to tomorrow's solutions -- Did you know that Perl is not Dead? »perlisalive.org/ |
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