Webcams

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ebcams are digital cameras are connected to the Internet and subsequently allowing online users to see what the webcams record. Webcams were developed in 1991 by Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky in order to monitor a coffee pot at the University of Cambridge. It was then connected to the Internet for the first time in 1993. They are now used ubiquitously in many ways for personal communication and security. They are used in places such as common households to corporate offices. Most webcams can be found embedded in electronic devices, such as a laptop or a phone, or an auxiliary device that can be connected via a USB or FireWire port of a computer.

A webcam produced by the company Logitech

Recently it has become clear that webcams can easily be used in malicious manners, ranging from a simple breach of privacy to blackmailing. 2010 marked the beginning of webcams being hijacked by black-hat hackers. This has become so common that a term has been coined for this specific type of hacking: camfecting. The topic of camfecting has made appearances in popular media, having been covered by an array of TV shows and movies. Some of the most influential people in popular culture, especially in the area of technology, have also brought the topic to light.

Benefits

Webcams have provided society with several revolutionary ideas such as being able to video chat with loved ones or make business calls. There is importance behind being able to see someone's face when you speak to them and webcams allow for that to happen. Webcams have given many people the ability to work remotely because they have have video conference calls and not feel as isolated from their colleagues if they are working from home. In terms of maintaining relationships with friends and family, webcams make this easier because people can speak over video chat and not feel as far apart. This is especially common with military families. In addition, webcams have been useful in the education sector as well. Many lecturers offer the option of videoing the lecture and posting it online for their students to either live stream or watch at a later date. Online training sessions and tutoring can be held through webcams too .

Outstanding Instances

Glasgow

In 2013, a student in Glasgow had her webcam compromised while watching a DVD while in her bath. The incident was brought to the attention of BBC Radio 5, whose live investigation uncovered many websites where hackers traded photos and footage captured via webcam. Some of these websites even sold them for profit. This incident in Glasgow not only raises ethical concerns about privacy breaches, but extends to unmoral and unconsented use of photos used to generate a profit.

Russian webcam live stream site

Russia

Webcams are being manufacturers into more and more products, resulting in diverse environments potential hackers could glimpse into. In 2014, a Russian website that had indexable categories of live stream footage from baby cameras to personal webcams was uncovered. Each stream was labeled with which country it was from, and the specific location from which it was being broadcasted. The website ran advertisements on the page for monetization.

Houston

In 2018, a hacker gained access to a webcam baby monitor in Houston, where he then began to spout “sexual expletives” and threats along the lines of “I’m going to kidnap your baby”. Similar instances were reported in different locations from cities in South Carolina, Minnesota, and Arizona.

References in Popular Culture

Black Mirror

The prevalence of camfecting has led to popular culture media referencing this phenomenon. A prominent example is the “Shut Up and Dance” episode of Black Mirror, Season 3. [SPOILER ALERT] In this episode, the main protagonist becomes a victim to camfecting while he is masturbating to pornography. The hacker uses footage captured in order to blackmail him into doing a variety of activities, such as robbing a bank and even engaging in a fight to the death of a stranger. The show raises a moral dilemma by revealing that the protagonist was actually viewing child pornography, making viewers ask the ethicality of humiliating someone via grey-hat, borderline black-hat hacking.

Scene from "Shut Up and Dance", Black Mirror

Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot is a widely watched TV show that covers camfecting. In episode 3, season 1, titled “eps1.2_d3bug.mkv”, one of the main character’s boyfriend has his webcam hacked into. The hacker records him and tells him that he has photos of his mistress. The hacker uses this as leverage, blackmailing the character into spreading malware into a company’s computer system.

Influential People

Apart from entertainment, some of the most influential people of this century, such as Mark Zuckerburg and FBI Director James Comey, have admitted to covering their webcams when they are not in use and are encouraging others to do the same.

Privacy Ethical Issues

The activity of computer users is constantly monitored on the Internet by third parties, including Internet service providers, advertising companies, and security agencies. The realm of activities that can be seen through the Internet is not limited to the digital space because there are devices like webcams that can perceive physical activities, where the Internet acts as an enabler. For hackers, the webcam is the perfect weapon with which non-consensual spying can be done, for reasons that are most commonly malicious. Hacking into a webcam in order to snap pictures from it, or even stream it live without the consent of the owner, has shown to be easy. With the help of plug-ins, such as Meterpreter (a dynamically extensible payload that uses in-memory DLL injection stagers) and access to Wi-Fi, a hacker easily is able to take over a webcam without much programming knowledge. Although most computers now have protective mechanisms that hinder this kind of intrusion, it is still very possible to remotely hack into a webcam. Even Apple laptops, which are notorious for being difficult to hack into, have been shown to be vulnerable to a webcam attack by researchers at John’s Hopkin’s, who demonstrated that it is possible to covertly capture images through iSight cameras on MacBooks and iMacs released prior to 2008. As of now, it seems that the only measure that is 100% foolproof is covering the camera itself. It is also widely believed that the National Securities Agency is able to and has turned on webcams as well as built-in microphones without triggering the indicator light.

Bibliography

• “'Horrified' Girl Spied on in the Bath by Webcam Hackers.” BBC News, BBC, 20 June 2013, www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-22986017/horrified-girl-spied-on-in-the-bath-by-webcam-hackers.
• “About the Metasploit Meterpreter.” Offensive Security, www.offensive-security.com/metasploit-unleashed/about-meterpreter/.
• “Camfecting.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camfecting.
• "eps1.2_d3bug.mkv." Mr. Robot, season 1, episode 2, July 8, 2015. Amazon Prime Video.
• “How Hackers Can Watch You Via Webcam | ODS Cybersecurity Services.” ODS - Cybersecurity, 5 May 2017, opendatasecurity.io/hackers-can-watch-you-via-your-webcam/. Saltzman, Marc. www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/saltzman/2018/03/01/has-someone-hacked-your-webcam-heres-how-stop-cyber-snoopers/377676002/. Sparkes, Matthew.
• “Is Your Webcam Allowing Hackers to Peer into Your Home?” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 20 Nov. 2014, www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11242650/Is-your-webcam-allowing-hackers-to-peer-into-your-home.html. Wang, Amy B.
• “'I'm in Your Baby's Room': A Hacker Took over a Baby Monitor and Broadcast Threats, Parents Say.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 20 Dec. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/20/nest-cam-baby-monitor-hacked-kidnap-threat-came-device-parents-say/.
• "Shut Up and Dance." Black Mirror, season 3, episode 3, October 21, 2016. Netflix.
• “What Is a Webcam?” Computer Hope, 3 Aug. 2018, www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/webcam.htm.
• Zetter, Kim. “How to Keep the NSA From Spying Through Your Webcam.” Wired, Conde Nast, 3 June 2017, www.wired.com/2014/03/webcams-mics/.