I have a built-in camera in my laptop. I’ve been concerned about its security - whether someone from the outside can control the camera. Esp since the recent reports of a school kid whose school-loaned laptop spied on him at home.
I have a firewall but have not found any security settings specifically for the camera.
Any ideas/advice?
thanks!
Re: camera security
#1.
if u use internet explorer , go to TOOLS > INTERNET OPTIONS > in the grouped items TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES click on SETTINGS > VIEW OBJECTS >
and u should see things like Java Runtime Environment , MUWEBCONTROL Class, Shockwave Flash Object, WUWEBCONTROL Class
right click on all of them and select properties, and in CODEBASE, you should see well-known addresses like
something something.microsoft.com
something something.macromedia.com
something something.adobe.com
something java/something.sun.com
(these 4 are common, MOSTLY safe ones).
#2.
on your desktop, right click on MY COMPUTER > PROPERTIES > REMOTE > uncheck both REMOTE ASSISTANCE and REMOTE DESKTOP.
#3.
START > RUN > MSCONFIG {enter} this opens up system configuration utility, go to STARTUP and observe all things that are checked-marked.. see if u have something fishy.. (expand the column called COMMAND to see where these entries are located in the drive’s path.. pay extra attention to anything with RUNDLL32.exe followed by a path.) (not that they are necessarily dangerous, just a good observation point).
#4.
right click MY COMPUTER > PROPERTIES > HARDWARE > DEVICE MANAGER > IMAGING DEVICES > highlight your webcam, right-click > DISABLE.
(when need to use, follow same process, and click ENABLE). (This is my paranoya-mode, keeping EXCLUSIVE control over my webcam, yet making sure its functionality available to me when needed).
Re: camera security
Use a small piece of duck tape . Best possible solution 
Re: camera security
^ I wanted to say the same thing .. sure shot prevention
Re: camera security
In addition to the suggestions above, make sure your Flash player global settings are secure by default.
Go to this site: Adobe - Flash Player : Settings Manager
and run through the list on the left menu (Privacy Settings, Storage Settings, Security Settings etc.) and set the default levels to either “Deny” or “Ask” based on your preferences.
Flash player has been notorious in the past for webcam and microphone hijacking attacks.
http://www.paklinks.com/gsmedia/files/61635/Flash-Settings.png
i thought about this and i figured, depending upon laptop to laptop, lid might not close properly.. also, peeling and putting back adhesive surfaces on laptops sometimes may defect the screen . . . (pressurizing to put it on, depressurizing in peeling)
(go behind laptop screen and poke it with a finger, it shows patterns appearing on the screen)..