Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Computer worm that turns on your webcam:
My friend Mitch Sklar passes along [1]this story:
A new computer virus takes spying on victims one step farther than
most worms -- the malicious program is capable of switching on
webcams, allowing the author to literally peek into victims' lives.
. . .
I'm always skeptical about computer stories in the media, since they
so often get details wrong. And legal stories, those, too. And of
course science stories, or any stories involving statistics. Come to
think of it, I guess I'm always skeptical about all stories in the
media, or should be. But in any event, this seems technically
plausible.
As the story says, though, paraphrasing "Craig Schmugar, virus
research manager at McAfee Inc.," "consumers should really be much
more worried about viruses and worms designed to capture keystrokes --
which enable virus writers to steal passwords and personal financial
information -- than programs designed to flip on webcams."
References
1. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5799432/
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://highsorcery.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
