Can this be true?

rachag · Post by **rachag** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:17 pm

Can this be true? Am I naive?

Good friend told me that she was at talk on dangers of internet at her local CofE primary. Known to be good school, affluent village near Bham. Repeated that if video sent via social messaging or email, that programme could be inserted so that computer could be turned on and off remotely and that web cam could also be turned on and view from camera into the home from the others PC, hence importance of not having computers in bedrooms.

Is this technological feasible, common, possible? Am I the only one who does not know of this or is it an urban myth in the making?

School reputable and friend trust worthy.

Rugbymum · Post by **Rugbymum** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:15 pm

Hmm...its possible that someone may hack into the computer & webcam in this way but would need to check with OH. I think you can prevent this by ensuring you have appropriate security e.g firewall etc.

However I do agree that computers in bedrooms are a bad idea anyway - I prefer to be able to monitor what is going on.

mike1880 · Post by **mike1880** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:20 pm

The remote switch on is certainly possible, depending to some extent on the model of computer (but best assume yours can do it - the more modern, the more likely). There are ways to prevent it - e.g. make sure that the "wake on LAN" setting in the BIOS is disabled - or, more obviously, switch off at the mains so the computer doesn't have power, not just "shut down" from Windows/whatever which may leave it in a standby state.

The webcam thing has been around for a very long time, anti-virus software should identify programs trying to do this, other than that I'm not aware of any way of preventing it other than unplugging/disabling the camera when you're not actively using it.

Mike

rachag · Post by **rachag** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:37 pm

Thank you.

Essentially then, this is possible and not just scare mongering.

So I will take it that laptops closed, desk top switched off rather than shut down.

Warks mum · Post by **Warks mum** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:38 am

The other option is to switch off the router when it's not being used - though this does restrict other users on certain 11+ sites... However, it does save electricity!

guest201 · Post by **guest201** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:52 pm

It is amazing what these people can do nowadays, not long ago I had a similar problem with my work laptop. One day I checked my internet history to go back to a page I had already visited that day and i found about 50 pages that I hadnt visited in my history, every time my computer was switched on someone was accessing internet through my computer, I dont know what else they had access to on my computer but it was quite frightening really. I stress that this was a work laptop with firewall, security etc. I was able to block them out with the help of a program I downloaded from internet (thanks to the IT department at work ) Be careful everyone as it could just as easily happen to you.

zee · Post by **zee** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:48 pm

It's true and not true.

Yes, there are trojans and viruses than can change settings on a computer; keylogging is a relatively common one (records everything you type, so gets passwords etc).

However, embedding that in a video would be a relatively complicated way of doing it (and maybe not even possible at present).

So, as others have said, you need a good firewall and up-to-date anti virus etc, but don't be misled into thinking videos are the danger. Nasties can hide in all sorts of ways.