Meet the men who spy on women through their webcams

[ShyWriter]

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Meet the men who spy on women through their webcams

The Remote Administration Tool is the revolver of the Internet's Wild West.

by Nate Anderson - Mar 10 2013, 8:30pm EDT

• Hacking
  
• Internet Crime
  

Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock

"See! That sh*t keeps popping up on my f**king computer!" says a blond woman as she leans back on a couch, bottle-feeding a baby on her lap.

The woman is visible from thousands of miles away on a hacker's computer. The hacker has infected her machine with a remote administration tool (RAT) that gives him access to the woman's screen, to her webcam, to her files, to her microphone. He watches her and the baby through a small control window open on his Windows PC, then he decides to have a little fun. He enters a series of shock and pornographic websites and watches them appear on the woman's computer.

The woman is startled. "Did it scare you?" she asks someone off camera. A young man steps into the webcam frame. "Yes," he says. Both stare at the computer in horrified fascination. A picture of old naked men appears in their Web browser, then vanishes as a McAfee security product blocks a "dangerous site."

"I think someone hacked into our computer," says the young man.

Far away, the hacker opens his "Fun Manager" control panel, which provides a host of tools for messing with his RAT victims. (More...)

See more at: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet-the-men-who-spy-on-women-through-their-webcams/

Steve

[mountaintree16]

If you don't have a built in webcam/mic, only plug it in when you need it. duc tape should fix the built in cam problem, or black paper taped over it if you want a less permanent solution. What a creepy thing to happen, though

[AdvancedSetup]

It's actually been known and happening for years now. Stealing data and passwords is not the only use of malware.

[fivealive]

I always kept my old Web camera unplugged do to paranoia about this, with my laptop I don't leave it on of I am not using it, plus when the cam is on a bright light comes on. this is also very creepy.

[mountaintree16]

yeah this is super creepy. I keep my webcam unplugged unless actively using it for the reason fivealive said as well as the fact that I don't want it sitting out when I don't use it often and getting all dusty.

[daledoc1]

I keep all my displays (& webcams) covered with a double layer of Heavy Duty Reynolds Wrap reinforced with duct tape at all times.

This slows down my computer work a bit, but keeps out prying eyes.

Yes, I was just kidding, of course.

And, yes, this is serious stuff.

I couldn't resist the temptation, though.

daledoc1