Bad guys may be staring at your children and scoping out your home and valuables. They may be watching and listening to your employees' conversations and stealing your intellectual property.
It appears that the latest nasty Windows worm exploits vulnerabilities in Microsoft products to enable webcams so that attackers can see and hear what's going on in your home or office.
Safer computing? Doesn't sound like it to me.
"If your computer is infected and you have a webcam plugged in, then everything you do in front of the computer can be seen, and everything you say can be recorded," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It would be like having a regular web cam conversation except you wouldn't know you're taking part in it."
These problems are only going to get worse. Protect yourself. Seek out safer alternatives. Practice smarter computing. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by bandaid fixes. Demand real security. Demand real privacy. Take back the Web.
Posted by asa at August 23, 2004 10:03 AMAs much as I would like to agree with you, this doesn't sound like a Firefox or Internet evangelistic problem. This virus propagates via network shares, not Internet Explorer. Using Firefox will not make you any safer.
Posted by: Mike G on August 23, 2004 11:27 AMI don't think there was an implication to use Firefox in this post ;)
The implication seemed to be that users should not be duped into thinking they are safe by security patches, no matter what software/OS they are using. Smart computing is essential for anyone these days, especially those connected to the internet or any network.
Posted by: will on August 23, 2004 11:32 AMMike, I didn't say that using Firefox would solve this problem. I was mostly trying to make the point that users may not be as safe as they think. One answer to this particular problem might be to switch to Macintosh or Linux where Firefox will be a familiar browser and might help ease the transition :-)
--Asa
Posted by: Asa Dotzler on August 23, 2004 12:05 PMMeh... I've never seen a webcam without a light or shutter.
As for the implication that using Firefox should help solve the problems, that came in the last few sentences: "Demand real security. Demand real privacy. Take back the Web". I associate none of those things with Firefox, as it happens. I just think 'customisable browsing experience based on standard technologies, with small-enough market share and a smart-enough user base to be ignored by bad people'. If the balance changes too much, I'll go back to IE - look at the security attention that the publicity is attracting, or the new features in IE (popup blocking works much better, and rendering speed is still great).
Posted by: James on August 23, 2004 03:37 PM