FBI Director James Comey Tapes Over His Notebook’s Webcam, Says You Should Too
Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire whiz kid who created the most popular social networking site on the planet, puts tape on his system's webcams. While that might sound paranoid to some, it's a common privacy measure against hackers who might be trying to spy on you or your company. Zuckerberg is far from alone—James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), uses a piece of tape on his personal laptop's webcam and recommends that everyone else does as well.
"There's some sensible things you should be doing, and that's one of them," Comey said during a recent conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
According to Comey, covering webcams is common practice at all government offices, big and small.
"They all have a little lid that closes down on them. You do that so people who don't have authority don't look at you. I think that's a good thing," Comey added.
Comey was mocked earlier this year when he first revealed that he tapes over his personal laptop's webcam, though not because anyone was disputing it's a sound, cheap, and easy to implement security measure. It was the irony of Comey's actions that came under fire. After all, Comey went after Apple pretty hard to try and force the company to thwart its iPhone security so that the FBI could see the contents of an iPhone model that belonged to one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino shooting.
Despite being "much mocked for that," as Comey admitted earlier this week, he stands firm that people should tape over their webcams.
"I hope people lock their cars. Lock your doors at night... If you have an alarm system, you should use it. It's not crazy that the FBI director cares about personal security as well," Comey said. "So I think people ought to take responsibility for their own safety and security."
Attacks on webcams on fairly common and easy to initiate. Hackers have been exposing vulnerabilities in webcams for years, and while covering up a webcam won't stop one from listening in on your conversations, it will at least prevent them from seeing things they shouldn't.
"There's some sensible things you should be doing, and that's one of them," Comey said during a recent conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
According to Comey, covering webcams is common practice at all government offices, big and small.
"They all have a little lid that closes down on them. You do that so people who don't have authority don't look at you. I think that's a good thing," Comey added.
Comey was mocked earlier this year when he first revealed that he tapes over his personal laptop's webcam, though not because anyone was disputing it's a sound, cheap, and easy to implement security measure. It was the irony of Comey's actions that came under fire. After all, Comey went after Apple pretty hard to try and force the company to thwart its iPhone security so that the FBI could see the contents of an iPhone model that belonged to one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino shooting.
Despite being "much mocked for that," as Comey admitted earlier this week, he stands firm that people should tape over their webcams.
"I hope people lock their cars. Lock your doors at night... If you have an alarm system, you should use it. It's not crazy that the FBI director cares about personal security as well," Comey said. "So I think people ought to take responsibility for their own safety and security."
Attacks on webcams on fairly common and easy to initiate. Hackers have been exposing vulnerabilities in webcams for years, and while covering up a webcam won't stop one from listening in on your conversations, it will at least prevent them from seeing things they shouldn't.
