Slashdot Mirror


FBI Director James Comey: Cover Up Your Webcam (thehill.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: The head of the FBI on Wednesday defended putting a piece of tape over his personal laptop's webcam, claiming the security step was a common sense one that most should take. "There's some sensible things you should be doing, and that's one of them," Director James Comey said during a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "You go into any government office and we all have the little camera things that sit on top of the screen," he added. "They all have a little lid that closes down on them. "You do that so that people who don't have authority don't look at you. I think that's a good thing." Comey was pilloried online earlier this year, after he revealed that he puts a piece of tap over his laptop camera to keep away prying eyes. The precaution is a common one among security advocates, given the relative ease of hacking laptop cameras. But many found it ironic for Comey, who this year launched a high profile battle against Apple to gain access to data locked inside of the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorists. Many viewed that fight as a referendum on digital privacy.

5 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Alternately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    stare directly into the camera and slowly stroke off. establish dominance.

  2. Something to hide? by nick.degraeve · · Score: 5, Funny

    It must mean he has something to hide, right? Because privacy is only needed for people who have something to hide.

  3. Re:Some sensible things by poofmeisterp · · Score: 5, Funny

    But you also need a switch on your microphone to turn it off. It's a bigger risk than the camera since eavesdropping on a conversation can reveal a lot more than the camera can when it comes to company secrets.

    Ah, but not if you're Comey. He encourages people to listen to his microphone to ensure transparency and fairness. Of course that microphone is in an enclosed break room in the "building next door".

    Har.

  4. Re:Some sensible things by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Funny

    Switch the web cam to serve a random video stream of cats copulating maybe?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  5. Re:Some sensible things by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 3, Funny

    I agree - the microphone has been ignored largely, both on phones, tablet and laptops.

    Not to worry. Apple will be removing the mic too on all these too -- not for security but to free up space and improve water resistance. Surveys show that doing it on the iPhone will be a hard sell though.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .