Some rather curious eyes may be using your MacBook webcam to spy on you. In this article, we'll show you how to secure your MacBook's webcam using just some duct tape, a few tweaks, and free software.
Webcams are really good for video conversations on FaceTime, Skype, or even some Photo Booth selfies. But the truth is that all these things can be viewed by someone else, not just you.
Hackers have long been adept at using webcams to spy on unsuspecting victims, gathering material with which they can blackmail or threaten, or...well...use it for more personal and depraved purposes.
But don’t force yourself into anxious thoughts, as there are simple ways that will help you protect yourself from invasion of your personal space and calmly continue to sit at your laptop without fear.
So let's figure it out and not to be afraid of any intruders.
Cover the lens
Perhaps the fastest and easiest way to limit hackers from taking various videos and photos of you is to block their view. This high-tech solution includes such a sophisticated technique as "putting duct tape on the webcam lens."
It may sound quite funny or even stupid, but it is undeniably effective. This is the same method used by people like Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and James Comey, Director of the FBI. Therefore, if such individuals resort to Velcro, then why not at least try.
Naturally, clear adhesive tape will not work, but duct tape or a piece of thin electrical tape will work just fine. If you don't want to glue the webcam lens to the lens, you can cut something out of paper to cover the webcam, and then glue the paper to the MacBook body.
Actually, that's all. You will spend about five minutes on this, and therefore this method can be considered the simplest, fastest and cheapest.
Cover the microphones
Naturally, when the camera is active, not only video works, but also audio. Although the video is already a pretty good incrimination on you, sometimes some audio will be better than any video. For example, you were having a rather personal conversation with someone, you covered the camera, but there were no microphones, and goodbye personal information.
Just as in the case of adhesive tape, the speakers can also be covered, but at least with the same tape. Simply cut out some tape or transparent adhesive tape (since this is audio, not video) and carefully tape each microphone so that the tape does not interfere with you when using the MacBook.
Once you do this, you will already have at least a basic level of protection against hackers. We recommend using a thicker material, like electrical tape, as it will transmit less sound.
If you want to test the opacity of microphones, you can ask your friend to call you or try to record something on a voice recorder.
Adjusting the Input Audio Level
Another method to ward off ill-wishers is to simply mute the received sound from your built-in microphone. To do this, open System Preferences - Sound - Input. In front of you will be the “Input Sensitivity” slider, which, in fact, you need to pull to the left all the way to muffle the received sound.
You'll have to go into the settings again if you want to use the microphone, but this method should make life much more difficult for various hackers. Although this is not a guarantee that some malicious utility will not be able to change the Input Audio settings for your microphone.
There will always be a certain level of risk unless you completely disable the webcam, which requires knowledge of certain command lines, or completely remove this unit from the device, i.e. Macbook.
So the next time you share some important information with your friends who happen to be sitting next to your MacBook, it is best to apply the above homemade security measures.
Monitoring webcam activity
The last thing you can resort to is using a third-party utility that will monitor the activity of your webcam and microphone. A fairly popular solution among users is the Oversight program. It is available completely free on the website
Do you regularly use your Mac's iSight camera for communication or other purposes and have you encountered a "no connection to camera" error in the application while using it? If so, there are several options and fixes available that may help you.
OS X Daily recently outlined one cause and fix for this problem. When you run a program that uses your Mac's webcam, OS X starts a background process called VDCAssistant that handles connecting and controlling the camera. While this process should terminate when the program using the camera stops, it can remain in memory if an error occurs and prevent future connections to the camera by the same program or others.
The way out of this situation is to stop the VDCAssistant process manually, as a result of which the corresponding programs can start it again normally and establish connections with the webcam. To do this, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Exit the program using the camera.
2. Open Terminal and run the following command (enter your password when prompted, but remember, it will not be displayed):
sudo killall VDCAssistant
If necessary, you can open Activity Monitor to perform this step by selecting All Processes from the View menu, then finding and ending the VDCAssistant process.
3. Now run your program again and try using the camera again.
In addition to the VDCAssistant process being the root cause of camera connection issues, other system configuration issues can lead to this behavior. On the one hand, if you're using a MacBook and have an external monitor attached, then one option is to use the system in clamshell mode, where you keep the lid closed and use only the external monitor as a display. If you do this, although the built-in speakers and microphone will work, the camera will be disabled and unavailable to programs that need it. In this case, programs like Messages will allow audio chats, but not video options.
The next option is a USB connection problem, which may arise from incompatibility with third-party USB devices or errors that may have occurred with the drivers on your system. This can happen if you are using a third party USB driver, or if the device itself is simply causing the USB system to crash. Often this is just a temporary problem that can be fixed by unplugging the third-party USB device and then plugging it back in, or by restarting the computer.
Also, try disconnecting everything except essential USB devices (keyboard, mouse, etc.) from your system and reboot if the problem persists. Troubleshooting in this manner can help identify the specific device that may be causing the problem. If you find the culprit, try leaving that device disabled, update drivers and other software, applying firmware updates (if available). Or you can contact the device manufacturer to check for a solution. Sometimes these problems occur when using USB hubs and other similar solutions, so in addition to identifying the specific device, try changing the order of devices in which they are connected to your system (dispense with the USB hub if you are using one, or change the USB ports) .
One of the episodes of the 3rd season of “Black Mirror” tells a terrible story about the misadventures of a boy who was found incriminating evidence through the webcam of his laptop. Surveillance via the web in real life is also feared by people who have first-hand knowledge of IT—Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, for example.
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The best way to protect yourself is to turn off your camera completely and only turn it on when necessary.
The instructions below for disabling the webcam are intended for both “advanced” users and beginners. By following the instructions, you will completely disable the “web” at the software level, and not a single application, including a “hacker” one, will be able to connect to it.
Important. If you were running an app that uses the camera on your Mac when you followed these steps, you'll need to restart it for the settings to take effect. For example, if Skype was running on the computer before turning off the camera, the camera will continue to work within this session. To apply the settings, you just need to close (restart) the application.
Using a special AppleScript called isightdisabler. Once activated, it temporarily changes the permissions for file drivers that allow applications to access the camera.
1
. Back up your Mac. If something goes wrong, you can easily return the system to its previous state.
2
. Turn off SIP (System Integrity Protection) protection. To do this, restart your Mac and immediately after the boot starts (along with the welcome sound), press and hold two keys - ⌘Cmd And R! The computer will boot into (don't worry, all data and settings on your Mac will remain intact). After a while, the language selection menu will appear.
On the next screen a menu will appear with macOS utilities. But we don't need it. In the top menu, click on the tab Utilities and select Terminal.
Paste the command into the command line:
csrutil disable; reboot
and press Enter(Return)
The Mac will reboot. After returning to the desktop, you can proceed further.
3 . Open Terminal and enter the following commands.
Important: do not do everything at once, but one after another:
Sudo chmod a-r /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreMediaIO.framework/Versions/A/Resources/VDC.plugin/Contents/MacOS/VDC sudo chmod a-r /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreMediaIOServicesPrivate.framework/Versions/A/Resources/AVC .plugin/contents/macos/avc sudo chmod a-r /system/library/quicktime/quicktimeusbvdcdigitizer.component/contimeusbvdcdigitizer sudogitizer sudo chmo d a-r /library/coremediaio/plug-ing/dal/applecamera.plugin/contents/macos/applecamera sudo chmod a-r /Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/FCP-DAL/AppleCamera.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AppleCamera
4 . That's it, the camera is turned off. Exit terminal and return SIP protection if necessary. To do this, enter the command csrutil enable, repeating point 2.
Every MacBook has a webcam, which, compared to other devices, has very high quality for taking photos. To do this, there is a special program on your device (Photo Booth), which sometimes causes difficulties when turning it on.
Instructions for using the camera on a MacBook.
Launch the camera and take a photo
To turn off the camera, you can use the simplest method, namely, seal it with adhesive tape. However, this can also be done programmatically. There is a special utility iSightConfigure. After installing it, you can click “Enable iSight” (it will turn off) or “Disable iSight” (everything will return to its original state).
Saving photos from the Internet
To save a picture from the network, in the context menu (called by clicking the mouse and holding down the Command key), select “Copy image”. Then open any graphics editor and paste the copied element (Command + V). Then save the created file.
You can take a screenshot of the desired area of the screen using the key combination Shift + Command + 4. This image will be saved to the desktop.
After reading the article, you learned about how to take photos with a MacBook camera, how to launch and disable it, and how to save images from the Internet. All this is done very quickly, in a few simple clicks. We hope that you have no questions on this topic. But if you have them, then ask them in the comments. Answers to them will be given as soon as possible. We will also be grateful for liking and reposting this article to your friends.
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