The idea of someone hacking your laptop camera, spying on you and then blackmailing you into releasing the footage publicly might sound like a cliche Hollywood plot, but it’s not as impossible as you may think. “Camfecting” is one of the most common hacks. If you suspect that your camera might be hacked, keep reading.
Contents
- How to tell if your webcam is hacked
- Can someone hack your webcam without the light coming on?
- How to avoid computer camera spying
All webcam hackers need to do to hijack your webcam is to slip remote-control malware into your laptop (this also gives them access to your personal files, messages, and browsing history). However, it’s easy to spot the warning signs and put a stop to it. Read on to find out how.
Step 1: Check the indicator light
If your webcam indicator light is on or it’s acting abnormally (you see a blinking LED) even though you haven’t turned the webcam on, it’s a sign that something might not be right. But don’t freak out just yet – it may only be another program or browser extension running in the background and using your webcam. Let’s double-check it.
Step 2: Check browser extensions
Reboot your computer and launch your browser. If the webcam light turns on the moment you open the browser, the problem is likely to be in a browser extension. But which one exactly? Deactivate your extensions one at a time to identify the culprit.
Step 3: Check apps
Another potential reason why your light is flashing might be applications. To test them, do this: launch an application and see if the webcam indicator lights up, if yes – bingo, if not – continue to open apps one by one until you spot the one secretly using it.
Since you may have a lot of them on your computer, the process might be time-consuming. Try using the Process Explorer tool for Windows. On macOS, go to Terminal and enter specific commands. You can find a tutorial here.
If your webcam light turns on a few seconds after you reboot your computer, without launching any applications – you might’ve been hacked. If this is what’s happening, move on to the next step.
Step 4: See if your webcam process is running
Go to the Task Manager and look for all currently running programmes under the Processes tab. Check for webcam utility. Again, don’t panic yet if you do find it. It may simply be a default setting to launch once you reboot your device. You can test it by restarting your computer and checking if the webcam utility has started automatically.
Step 5: Try running the webcam
Close all the programs and apps and try turning the webcam on. If you get an error message stating that your camera is already in use, it might be that your laptop’s camera has been hacked… or there’s an app running in the background (you can check this by following the instructions in Step 1).
Step 6: Look for audio and video recordings
If a hacker has been secretly snooping on you, you might be able to find audio and/or video recordings you don’t remember. Go to the folder where your webcam stores such files. Also double check your webcam’s settings and whether that folder hasn’t been changed without your knowledge. However, don’t trust only this method as some hackers might simply live stream everything they can see through your webcam to their device.
Step 7: Run a malware scan
If it turns out that an unfamiliar piece of software is secretly using your camera, scan your computer system for malware immediately. If it finds anything, move the file to quarantine. If it doesn’t solve the problem and you still have suspicion that your camera is hacked, it’s time to speak to a tech professional.