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pewgar_seemsimandroid ,

hehe camerw blocking laptop

callyral ,
@callyral@pawb.social avatar

You can't spy on me through my webcam

I don't have a webcam

nifty OP ,
@nifty@lemmy.world avatar

With non-working drivers, you effectively don’t! Win-win

ordellrb ,

I have it disabled in bios and electric tape over it

Pacmanlives , (edited )

Man I remember having to buy a Cisco pcmcia WiFi card for my laptop to be able to support my collages CHAP auth to be able to get WiFi on campus

ADTJ ,

I used to have to use a USB adapter on my laptop because the built in one was turned off by default and had a Windows only software switch to enable it.

Titou ,
@Titou@sh.itjust.works avatar

Couldn't find anything with less pixels, please save to disk and remove resolution yourself ❤️

The quality seems ok

Shardikprime ,

CIA Operative: that's the neat part, I know how to make them work

renzev ,

So that means I get a working webcam! It's a win-win! /j

Shardikprime ,

We get a working webcam. For about the 30 seconds it takes you to fap

Shardikprime ,

Don't ask me how I know it's 30 seconds

Shardikprime ,

Also stop looking at the camera while fapping it's disturbing

TurdMongler ,

What about Intel ME, Microsoft Pluton, the one for AMD. The secret chips that have direct access to your hardware. Basically a blackbox. Same with cellphones. SoC.

renzev ,

the one for AMD

It's called PSP (Platform Security Processor), iirc

And to answer your question:

  • Old-ass thinkpad as daily driver: Acquired
  • RPI Pico: Acquired
  • SOIC Chip programming clip: Acquired
  • Motivation to get off my ass and actually flash libreboot and me-cleaner: In progress...
asexualchangeling , (edited )

I love my frame.work 16 and its hardware switch for camera and mic

lud ,

I like my ThinkPad for that too. It's great.

uis ,
@uis@lemm.ee avatar

Framework is thinkpad2

toaster , (edited )
@toaster@slrpnk.net avatar

System76 has some machines with hardware camera killswitches too. Big fan of Framework's open-source hardware and firmware microcontroller firmware though.

TheyCallMeHacked ,

Their firmware isn't opensource. At least not fully. Only the EC firmware has been opensourced, that is the firmware for the micro-controller responsible for the battery, keyboard, buttons, LEDs, sensors, and so on...

The boot firmware, responsible for getting the CPU and hardware in a bootable state, is absolutely proprietary. There is initial support for one specific framework motherboard in coreboot, a partially libre boot firmware, but it's very new and I don't know exactly what is and isn't supported...

toaster ,
@toaster@slrpnk.net avatar

Thank you for clarifying, I edited my comment. I was referring to coreboot but did not know that it was not yet widely supported in Framework laptops.

Fedizen ,

forcing hackers to do free tech support to scam you.

rambling_lunatic ,

I keep my webcam unplugged when not in use.

jaschen ,

Doctors hate him for this one simple trick!

Psythik ,

I simply don't own a webcam. Last time I actually had a use for one was sometime around 2003. That said, I'm still fucked because I made the mistake of buying a phone that uses the camera as the light sensor.

rambling_lunatic ,

I keep a webcam because I trust my personal computer far more than my phone when it comes to private comms.

MonkderDritte ,

No webcam.

But some spam mails think i have one.

valkyre09 ,

I think I saw videos of you last week on one of those revenge porn sites. You were going to town on yourself. I’m guessing you didn’t send the bitcoin?

DarkenLM ,

The safest laptops to use: The old ThinkPads still holding on through hopes and dreams.

ichbinjasokreativ ,

Get a laptip with a real hardware switch for the cam and the mic. Best peace of mind knowing that they're really off. Neither tape, nor the non-electrical built-in plastic sliders do that.

lauha ,

You still have to trust the manufacturer that it really turns the webcam off, not just the webcam light.

mexicancartel ,

It probably can be inspected

lauha ,

Yes, but most won't.

mexicancartel ,

I mean, someone will do for every model. That would be enough to ensure security. If manufacturer faked it, and one in a thousand customers found it, then it will be a news or a lawsuit

ichbinjasokreativ ,

Hardware switches physically cut power to the device in question and you can take it apart and verify. There is no trust involved.

lauha ,

99.999% will not take it apart and verify. They will just "nice, a physical switch". There is a lot of trust involved.

toaster ,
@toaster@slrpnk.net avatar

Sure beats literally no protection which is what most laptops have. I have a switch and sometimes forget it's off and my webcam/mic definitely don't work, on any OS.

ichbinjasokreativ ,

They don't neccessarily need to, you can pretty much always just look at reviews. Now you can make a point about trusting reviewers, but all that is still better than trusting the manufacturer or microsoft.

You're right though, there is trust involved, but only if you don't verify things yourself.

lauha ,

I have never seen a review opening a laptop to check if the hardware switch is really that. Please, link to a reviewsite that does that

ArcaneSlime ,

Unless you have a framework, and can remove the bezel and confirm that they work!

I'm really happy with my new framework's switches, I actually trust them for once! I went to find a thing on how they work to post here:

"(They) saw the mention of the switches and that they are optical somewhere, but can’t remember to quote the source.

As far as I can tell each switch is a U channel with a light emitter on one side, and a detector on the other. The part you move on the bezel just breaks the light beam. This creates a electronic on/off hardware switch.

Using an actual physical switch would tend to be a source of an intermittent connection over time. Hence the use of optical technology. Same thought process for the screen open switch being a Hall Effect sensor, which can work through a cover."

toaster ,
@toaster@slrpnk.net avatar

Open-source hardware to the rescue! So you CAN verify it.

r00ty ,
@r00ty@kbin.life avatar

I'd like a proper hardware light. Something physical such that the camera cannot send the image back to the board without the light being on. And yes, a physical cutout switch would definitely be nice.

brokenlcd ,

Either buy a sticker cover with a slider or get lenovo laptops that have that builtin; even though the slider is confusionary since when it's closed it's a red dot. Im sure that there must be other brands that integrate it as well

Zink ,

That’s how my Dell work machine is. The switch slides some red plastic over the lens.

ichbinjasokreativ ,

The problem with those is that it's often just a piece of plastic, so the microphone isn't cut off from power. The webcam sees noching, but sound is unaffected.

synapse1278 ,
@synapse1278@lemmy.world avatar

Hackers won't have much to blackmail me, I fap completely silently.

ichbinjasokreativ ,

It's more about privacy. Windows might access your mic to get more data on you for advertising, wouldn't be anything new.

synapse1278 ,
@synapse1278@lemmy.world avatar

I am joking of course. I am a privacy freak myself:

  1. All my computers run Linux
  2. I self-host all what I can and encrypt as much as I can by myself too
  3. On desktop, Mic and Cam are connected to a USB hub with individual switches such that they are powered ON only when I need them
  4. Laptop is a Framework 13 with HW switches for both Cam and Mic

There is something about the webcam switch on the Lenovo from work, that I like better than the Framework: The switch also physically blocks the camera. It makes me feel more safe and it's actually much more intuitive to understand when it is disable. On Framework, the switch shows either red or black, but I never know what is enable and disable. Is it red for "Careful, it's active !" or red for "Disable" ? (It's Red=Disable, Black=Active).

Titou ,
@Titou@sh.itjust.works avatar

I use tape

itslilith ,
@itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

btw

toaster ,
@toaster@slrpnk.net avatar

and it has flames on it

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

You can just write some custom selinux rules to block access. It is pretty simple.

nexussapphire ,

I have a physical switch on my laptop. Physically disconnected USB device as far as Linux is concerned.

herrvogel ,

That's still software. Unless selinux has a hidden feature where it can physically sever a data connection.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

Well unless the full system is compromised it should be pretty secure. It is from the NSA after all.

I was kind of joking though

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