While this post is not about teaching anyone the arts of cybercrime, it is likely that some of us may have been wondering how on earth someone can remotely take control of our laptop’s camera to be able to spy on us. It’s bad enough to know that someone can indeed be watching you through your own webcam. However, not having any idea how this is done can mean you will not know how to effectively prevent it.
How is Webcam Hacking Perpetrated
There are a number of ways that hackers use to gain control of your laptop’s webcam. Let us look at some of the more common ways:
Remote Administration Tools (RATs)
This is a program or software that allows a person to take control of a system in a different location. They can then operate that system as it they are sitting right in front of it.
While this software can also be used for some legitimate tasks, it is one of the tools that aid cybercrime. This software will need to be installed in your computer for the hacker to be able to take control of it. Since you are likely not going to willingly install this program, the hacker will find a way to sneak it in. This can be through services like peer-to-peer sharing platforms.
Malicious Codes
There are codes that hackers can hide on a web application such that when unsuspecting person access that application without adequate security, the hacker can take control of their system.
What this means is that you must take cybercrime seriously and have good cybersecurity. At least this may help prevent some of these codes and malware from running in your computer.
BotNets
These refer to a network that links several private computers, using them for a common task. A command and control software is usually used to manage these private computers. If somehow the person controlling a network is a cybercriminal, then they can introduce malware into private computers, allowing them to take full control of the computers.
Carrying out these cyber crimes can sometimes be ridiculously easy. In this article, you can see how easily a guy hacked a hotel’s webcam. This shows how important cybersecurity is. While you are still trying to sort the bigger security issues out, get a webcam cover for instant protection.
