This article appears in today's newspaper:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/19/tp-webcams-may-be-able-to-record-secretly/all/?print
Although the main article is old news, information it seems to add that perhaps wasnt clear (at least to me or at least hadn't considered it to date) is the idea of a spy/hacker being able to download something that implements a firmware modification to one or more computer chip components. In this case, it is the webcam related chip, but it could actually be any one or more of the other circuit chips cited in the article.
Last night on Clyde Lewis "Ground Zero" it was cited and affirmed by a call in that quite sometime back, legislation was passed that required major computer hardware and software manufacturers to provide secret "backdoor" accesses. (The actual bill was cited, but I did not record or memorize the reference number, but apparently this has been ongoing for many many years now, possibly since 1994 even.)
Seems to me that if this is all true, then the type of security compromises which could be ongoing are beyond just wiping an HDD and reinstalling an OS. It also seems that there should be a market here for a security software that inspects a total machine including its hardware/firmware suite for authenticity/modification/malware.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/19/tp-webcams-may-be-able-to-record-secretly/all/?print
Although the main article is old news, information it seems to add that perhaps wasnt clear (at least to me or at least hadn't considered it to date) is the idea of a spy/hacker being able to download something that implements a firmware modification to one or more computer chip components. In this case, it is the webcam related chip, but it could actually be any one or more of the other circuit chips cited in the article.
Last night on Clyde Lewis "Ground Zero" it was cited and affirmed by a call in that quite sometime back, legislation was passed that required major computer hardware and software manufacturers to provide secret "backdoor" accesses. (The actual bill was cited, but I did not record or memorize the reference number, but apparently this has been ongoing for many many years now, possibly since 1994 even.)
Seems to me that if this is all true, then the type of security compromises which could be ongoing are beyond just wiping an HDD and reinstalling an OS. It also seems that there should be a market here for a security software that inspects a total machine including its hardware/firmware suite for authenticity/modification/malware.
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