Is there a way to avoid being spied on through the webcam without necessarily covering the webcam with a piece of dark tape? Sure. Here’s how to do it
We’re all getting a little paranoid because of the constant cyber breaches that spare no one. In addition to the theft of personal data, one of the main fears that many people have to live with is that of being spied on through the webcam of their devices.
especially in the presence of laptops that, like tablets and smartphones, are sold with a built-in photo sensor. These fears are absolutely legitimate, considering that, as many experts say, it takes very little to take control of a webcam remotely and enter the private sphere of the victims. With everything that follows. The violated intimacy, in fact, risks to be used by hackers as a blackmail weapon to extort money. Many users still choose to protect themselves using the classic and evergreen method of dark tape to shield the webcam. But is there anything else you can do?
How to check if your webcam is safe
A less archaic but still very effective way to know if any prying eyes have intruded into our lives is to check which programs and applications have access to the camera. Among them, in fact, malicious software could be hiding. It is a process that doesn’t require great computer skills. All you have to do is download Processes Explorer, a free program that, just like the Windows Task Manager, detects all active processes.
Once you have downloaded the software, the first step is to find out the name of the webcam installed on your computer. Again, the procedure is very simple. Simply type “Device Manager” in “Search in Windows”, which you’ll find at the bottom left of the screen. Then look for “Capture and imaging devices” and select the webcam from the dropdown menu. Then another window will appear in which you’ll find a series of information about the installed sensor. Click on “Details” and copy the name of the webcam (the one under the “Value” option).
Now we enter the “hot” phase. Open Process Manager and run Ctrl+F. In the search bar that will appear on the screen, paste the name of the camera you copied earlier and click on “Search”. The software will give you a list of all programs that use the camera. If any of them seems unfamiliar to you, it might be spyware. At this point you’ll have to remove it with an antispyware program and run a virus scan. If the process is successful, you can start using your webcam again.