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Peeping Tom Worm That Uses Webcams

Ant writes "The Register mentions a new Windows worm known as Rbot-GR that is currently circulating accross the net. It has the capability to spy on users using webcams. " I'm surprised that it took this long.

67 of 388 comments (clear)

  1. Appropriate quote... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mitch: And from now on, stop playing with yourself!
    Kent: It is God!

    Real Genius

    1. Re: appropriate quote... by WoodenRobot · · Score: 3, Funny
      Shame about the HIDEOUS BEIGE THAT'S BURNING MY EYES!

      /yes, it needed caps - it's that bad...

      --
      ---
      "I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing and it was everything that I thought it could be."
    2. Re:Appropriate quote... by uncoveror · · Score: 4, Funny

      The FBI, or some other police agency will probably arrest someone they claim is a virus writer, and say that perpetrator has been dealt with, but don't be fooled. This is big brother, not some kid, or an unsociable grown man living in his mother's basement. Read More.

      --
      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
  2. Ewww.... by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think I want to see what's on the other side of that computer screen. I prefer to just believe what foxylady687783 tells me she's doing.

    1. Re:Ewww.... by stuffedmonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      What you really don't want to know, is that not only is she not foxy, she's not a lady either!

    2. Re:Ewww.... by Wog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ah, the Internet...

      Where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents... and they're MEN!

    3. Re:Ewww.... by Epistax · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think I speak for the majority of geeks who can't get any when I ask:
      Where can I get said worm and what are the IPs of the seven sisters colleges?

    4. Re:Ewww.... by bwalling · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, if this programmer really wants to prove his/her skills, the worm will be able to detect attractive people that are naked and report back only those feeds.

    5. Re:Ewww.... by BrynM · · Score: 3, Funny
      "spreading a trojan to a collage"
      Makes for one messy and disgusting art project! It also gives new meaning to the term "eating paste".
      --
      US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  3. Spy on Nerds?! by romper · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder how long it will take for the writer(s) to regret this one. I mean, look at the demographic most likely to own web cams and leave them connected to their computer. Would you really WANT to spy on them?

    Now, if you could get your ex-girlfriend (or boyfriend, whatever) to install the trojan...

    --
    Right is wrong when left is right.
    1. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by Halthar · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh please, this is /., the only people installing Trojans here are the ones who want to "see how they fit" or some such.

    2. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by blowdart · · Score: 5, Funny
      The author originally wrote this for Linux, but after spending 3 days looking at stolen pictures of Star Wars action figures, dust bunny cuddly toys, strange books with animals on and disgarded pizza boxes, noodle packs and tissues he rewrote it.

      I'm going to karma hell now

    3. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by shufler · · Score: 3, Funny

      Like a glove!

    4. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      strange books with animals on [...] and tissues

      OMG.... I think this confirms that Linus's "affection" for penguins goes a bit too far to be healthy.

    5. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by RevDobbs · · Score: 4, Funny
      Oh please, this is /., the only people installing Trojans here are the ones who want to "see how they fit" or some such.

      ... the same way I like me jeans: baggy.

      ::sniff::

    6. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're not supposed to put it on your hand. Dork.

    7. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      ... the same way I like me jeans: baggy.

      Easy enough. Buy the regular-sized ones.

    8. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by ameoba · · Score: 2, Funny

      This may be the first time a website has been slashdotted from simply being mentioned in a reply. The lure of free pron is not to be underestimated.

      --
      my sig's at the bottom of the page.
    9. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by pfleming · · Score: 3, Funny

      You put a condom on an oversized chicken?

    10. Re:Spy on Nerds?! by ahaning · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right...

      <judge> i hereby sentence you to six months of socialization and verbal communication with people. good luck.
      <geek> *cries*

      --
      Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
  4. In other news... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... a massive supply of horrible focus and bad resolution porn has started to show up on the Internet. Film(s) at 11.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    1. Re:In other news... by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 5, Funny

      ..Porn implies that sex is happening. Given the stereotypical webcam owner, I'm guessing there's not a lot of sex going on.

      Unless you're counting solo flights. Then I would suggest you remove "focus" and "resolution" from your post.

    2. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Why is it that everyone assumes that most people use their computers in the Nude?

    3. Re:In other news... by Halthar · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't know about that. Most folks I know more than likely tend to be pretty focused and resolute during a solo flight.

    4. Re:In other news... by shufler · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wait a minute.

      I'm the only one?

  5. Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by G4from128k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

    That's what I saw when I first clicked on the link to "Read More" for the /. home page. I guess I need that worm to read slashdot now.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  6. heh by kafka93 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Kinda funny that first clicking on the story brought up "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." .. perhaps the /. editors have experienced this web cam worm thing first-hand and are.. covering up, so to speak?

    On second thoughts, no.. let's not even go there. *shudder*

  7. I'm still waitng for... by The+Analog+Kid · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm surprised that it took this long.

    I'm still waiting for the virus to be made that replaced the users background with the goatse.cx (or goat.cx, nowadays) man.

    1. Re:I'm still waitng for... by madcow_ucsb · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, the old Back Orriface or Net somethingorother could, although only one person at a time.

      A friend of mine would use that and mess with people (only those who assumed he was a female and hit on him over icq - and would then accept his "self-extracting jpeg"). It had a mode where you could force an image to block everything else on the screen until a reboot. He'd wait until whoever was on the computer left and plaster the goatse.cx guy up on the screen. Good times.

    2. Re:I'm still waitng for... by Gyorg_Lavode · · Score: 4, Funny

      Same with my brother. He told some old guy he was a HS cheerleader then sent him cheerleader.exe. Guy ran it w/o even asking why it was executable. Poor guy ended up w/ midget porn for a background and all the abilities to change it locked out I think.

      --
      I do security
    3. Re:I'm still waitng for... by One_6453 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I find that absolutely sickening. mod me down but if those are good times The devil must be your father.

    4. Re:I'm still waitng for... by madcow_ucsb · · Score: 4, Funny

      Heh. When typing to some guy thru notepad, pretending to be his suddenly conscious computer he typed back "if you're really my computer then fuck me!"

      *open cd-rom tray*

      "Please insert dick"

      He went offline and never came back...

  8. Oh boy a bunch of hairy half naked geeks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Where do I sign up?

  9. Not the Web Cam!?!? by over_exposed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Uh oh... I'm going to have to point my web cam somewhere other than my "den of love" from here on out! How DARE they view me and not pay for it on a monthly basis!

    --
    "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
  10. Cue American Pie by savagedome · · Score: 3, Funny

    Finch : God bless the Internet

    I whole heartedly agree.

  11. X10 cameras anyone? by hike2 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Oh Oh So I'll finally get to see a full length movie of that girl featured on the perennial pop-up ads for the X10 cameras?

    Methinks that some bored kid got tired of all the webcam pron sites out there and went out to make his own "real" digital version of a voyeur binoculars

    --
    Fourty-two!
  12. Whew! by ryanvm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whew! For a minute there I thought you said, "I'm surprised that it looks this long."

  13. Makes me think of this pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I still don't know if it was real or not, but it popped up once on a search for Back Orifice many many years ago, back when BO was still commonplace. It consisted of a simultaneously taken screenshot and webcam picture. The screenshot was just Windows, with a little error dialog that had suddenly popped up saying:
    As your computer, I think we need to have a talk. You've got a girl sitting there on the bed behind you, and yet you're sitting here using me. Have you ever considered that you might be gay?
    Accompanied with this was a simultaneous snapshot from the computer's webcam, revealing a guy, with his girlfriend laying on the bed reading something behind him, sitting in front of his computer shirtless, staring at the screen in complete and utter dumbfoundment.
  14. Re:coooolll by over_exposed · · Score: 2, Funny

    yeah, because we all really want to see the world from someone's hip view... better yet, POCKET CAM! Woo h- oh wait.

    --
    "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
  15. I knew WIndows had bad security... by anandamide · · Score: 5, Funny

    But how a Virus installs the webcam on your computer is beyond me!

  16. Just put up a sign by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Place your sign against a wall, point the webcam to it. Sign says,

    WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. WE ARE CALLING YOUR PARENTS.

    Sure, you never find out what happens, but it might be fun.

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  17. Wow... by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Funny

    Geeks can just go any lengths to meet a girl. :-o

    I'd like to know the guy (I assume it's a guy) that made this virus. "Woo, I just got this idea -- if I write a virus to see other users, I might see pr0n!"

    Hmm, on second though I'm not sure I'd like to know him. :-S

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  18. Re:Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the most insightful post I have ever seen. I see this issue in a whole new light now, that it's Microsoft's fault people write worms for its operating system. The fact that they have bugs in their software on purpose never occurred to me, but now I have seen the light. Your clever use of 'teh' enhances your argument in a way I never thought possible. I truly have a new outlook on life after reading this, and intend to install Linux on every computer I see for the rest of my life, because clearly it is completely bug-free and is never subject to any sort of malicious attack. Thanks!

  19. Old news. by Vermifax · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://douglas.min.net/~drw/mirrors/altern.org/bo2 kfun/best.html

    --

    Vermifax

    Logout
  20. Re:Nothing by damned_in_davis · · Score: 5, Funny

    strange, when i clicked it : nothing happened... except the tiny green light on my webcam started blinking.

    --


    "why you tattoring fan sucked doo belly - i have to go buy something to strike you with... excuse me."
  21. Lowest Price on Webcams? by therealfitzman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have several people I will be buying webcams for. I'll make sure I install the 'drivers' as well.

  22. Surpised? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    I'm surprised that it took this long.

    C'mon, what are you expecting to see, really? People making out infront of their cameras? Ha!

    More likely:

    Some drone plodding away at a spreadsheet

    A gamer wondering why his framerate just dropped 10% on d00m 3

    George W. Bush picking his nose and rolling it into a little ball

    A guy with a big beard and mustache, wearing a bedsheet over his head, two-finger typing instructions to a cell to get him early tickets to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, before staging this next deadly attack.

    CowboyNeal with food stains all down his tshirt (ecch!)

    J. K. Rowling gnawing on the pencil while deciding how the next character dies in Harry Potter. 'Zapped .. eaten .. hmmmm...'

    A couple of norwegian guys with a couple paintings propped against the wall behind them.

    A Slashdot moderator about to zap this post -- 'Worst post ever!'

    William Shatner writing lots of kissing and strutting scenes into his appearance in Enterprise and removing that bit where he's required to act without his toupee on.

    An ILM designer creating the next 'Jar Jar' character -- 'No, make it look more like Hello Kitty...

    Honestly, voyeurism is this desperate?

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  23. Re:Where Do I Look Up the Infected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, but THANK GOD for that 1%!

  24. "I'm suprised that it took this long" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Translation: "Why didn't I think of this first!"

  25. Look on the positive side by Mateito · · Score: 4, Funny

    This may very well turn out to be the incentive I need to break my nose picking habit.

  26. Re:Never mind the worm by damned_in_davis · · Score: 2, Funny

    127.0.0.1

    --


    "why you tattoring fan sucked doo belly - i have to go buy something to strike you with... excuse me."
  27. unbreakable defence vs being observed by webcams.. by Harodotus · · Score: 2, Funny

    This came up at several past Defcon conventions.

    The consensus for the best defence was rather than running complex firewall and host-based protection software, turn the camera to face the wall.

    It is currently unbroken and no hacker has yet to figure out a way get past this.*

    Personally I think my own defence is even better, I don't own/use a webcam.

    * - This defense looses viability if you have a computer controlled webcam mount.

    --
    Its not users who are broken, it's systems not taking account their likely behaviour and fixing it technically.
  28. Re:coooolll by magefile · · Score: 2, Funny

    My history teacher did this when he got a wireless webcam in his classroom ... he hooked it into his belt, tucked it under his shirt with only the lens poking out, then put it on the classroom's TV screen.

    He then told us it was his "ButtCam", and that he was going to the bathroom, which was right next door. Obviously, it was a bluff, but it got the desired "ew!"s from the audience.

  29. Re:Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hi Bill,

    Glad we finally cleared that one up,
    cheers, RMS

  30. Get a copy and find where the media is going... by ianbnet · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously, if someone comes across it, I'm going to second calls for a major /. voyeur party. Just figure out where this thing drops its imagery...

    I'm all about pictures of 15-yo gamers picking their nose in front of Doom3. I'd laugh my ******* *** off.

    --
    --------------------- -me, Crusher of those who are Foolish (don't be foolish)
  31. just for fun... by m2bord · · Score: 4, Funny

    i'd like to get a version of that and change it a little. what i'd like it to do is open a window and loopback the feed to the host computer. just imagine the look on someone's face when they realize that they are looking at images of themselves from say two minutes prior.

    --
    Is it 5:30 yet?
  32. Solution by Dachannien · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just point your webcam back at your monitor, and surf the IT portion of Slashdot. The voyeurs out there watching your webcam will go blind in short order.

  33. If this worm figures how to use by Lispy · · Score: 5, Funny

    my Logitech Color Quickcam with Kernel 2.6.7 it is highly appreciated. ;-)

  34. Reminds me of by sheetsda · · Score: 4, Funny

    this. Ahhh, Back Orifice was fun (as someone else noted).

    I remember doing something similar to my friends with an ICQ spoof program, my favorite went something like from UIN(666): "This is Satan, sell me you soul.", UIN(333): "This is God, don't listen to Satan.", UIN(1): "This is your mother, don't listen to either of them." It was even better if they tried to add the new UINs to their contact list and they all came back invalid. (The minimum is something like 1001)

  35. identity theft? by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Register article is short on details, but the trojan does pull paypal and other info from the machine. If they get enough info on you your headshot would be a nice piece of data to have to forge an picture ID.

    I know you're kidding, but considering more than half of internet users in the US are always on broadband users and the number of webcams sold/bundled with PCs and you've got yourself quite a number of people to spy on.

    Or they might just send wacky pop-ups to solicit expressions like the one this guy is sporting.

  36. s'easy by billimad · · Score: 5, Funny

    install windows. sit back, and relax.

  37. Peeping Tom? No Problem.... by Dharma · · Score: 5, Funny

    Give 'em something REALLY good to look at.

    Scatter a bunch of fake corpses around your room. Splatter a little fake blood and gibs around for good measure, and then put a radial arm saw and sausage grinder off in a corner.

    If you suspect the cam is active, throw on a bloody goalie mask and say into the camera... "I know where you live...."

  38. Hold on, researching..... by bheerssen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, you're right! It goes on the head.

    --
    (Score: -1, Stupid)
  39. Re:Bye bye PlanetSuzy :-) by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Funny
    That's 3 sites taken out with one post:
    1. the site: uselessjunk.net
    2. the mirror another poster gave (darn!) http://pics.sjeemz.nl/libby/ [sjeemz.nl]
    3. PlanetSuzy
    +5 Kryptonite?
  40. BO by zogger · · Score: 5, Funny

    I saw it used for that purpose. A friend of mine had that, and he says "watch this, got this back orifice thing, you control folks computarz and stuff! Gonna turn on this chicks webcam, watch this now...."

    so, he does what he does....anticipation......

    AAAK, ME EYES!

    It was some old lady shuffling around in her bathrobe! Mrs. Lubner deluxe!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

  41. Re:Old news? Here? Shocking! by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not quite 20 years, since the Sparc didn't ship til 1990-ish, and the Sun3 didn't have the microphone.
    Just the same, the mic and the speaker were really nifty. I was working on homework one night at around 2am, and noticed that a buddy was logged in on console in a lab of 15-20 sparcs. I checked the other machines, and he was the only one (logged in) in the lab, so I hacked out a quick shell script to rsh to each host and cat /usr/demo/laughter.au (or whatever the sample was called -- the one with several people laughing) to /dev/audio, placing each rsh in the background so all of them went off more-or-less at the same time.
    A few minutes later, he wasn't logged in anymore.

  42. Funny by Pan+T.+Hose · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thanks to the "Peeping Tom Worm That Uses Webcams" headline, my antipornography firewall has just blocked Slashdot frontpage.

    --
    Sincerely,
    Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
    "Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."