The FBI can secretly activate a
computer’s webcam to spy on an individual without turning on the
indicator light, a former official revealed to the Washington Post in an
article published Friday.
According to the Washington Post’s account
of what Marcus Thomas — former assistant director of the FBI’s
Operational Technology Division in Quantico — said, “The FBI has been
able to covertly activate a computer’s camera — without triggering the
light that lets users know it is recording — for several years, and has
used that technique mainly in terrorism cases or the most serious
criminal investigations.”
An
FBI official told the Washington Post they have been able to secretly
activate an individual’s webcam for years now. (Image source:
Shutterstock)
“Because of encryption and because
targets are increasingly using mobile devices, law enforcement is
realizing that more and more they’re going to have to be on the device —
or in the cloud,” Thomas added,
in reference to remote storage services. “There’s the realization out
there that they’re going to have to use these types of tools more and
more.”
TheBlaze has previously reported on hackers using remote access tools to activate an individual’s webcam and spy on them.
This post has been updated to reflect that Thomas is an ex-FBI official.
(H/T: Gizmodo)
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