“MacBooks are designed to prevent software running on the MacBook’s central processing unit (CPU) from activating its iSight camera without turning on the light. But researchers figured out how to reprogram the chip inside the camera, known as a micro-controller, to defeat this security feature. In a paper called “iSeeYou: Disabling the MacBook Webcam Indicator LED,” Brocker and Checkoway describe how to reprogram the iSight camera’s micro-controller to allow the camera and light to be activated independently. That allows the camera to be turned on while the light stays off. Their research is under consideration for an upcoming academic security conference.” - × × ×

“But more sophisticated remote monitoring tools may already have the capabilities to suppress the warning light, says Morgan Marquis-Boire, a security researcher at the University of Toronto. He says that cheap RATs like the one used in Merion High School may not have the ability to disable the hardware LEDs, but “you would probably expect more sophisticated surveillance offerings which cost hundreds of thousands of euros” to be stealthier. ¶ He points to commercial surveillance products such as Hacking Team and FinFisher that are marketed for use by governments. FinFisher is a suite of tools sold by a European firm called the Gamma Group. A company marketing document released by WikiLeaks indicated that Finfisher could be “covertly deployed on the Target Systems” and enable, among other things, “Live Surveillance through Webcam and Microphone.” - × × ×

Главная часть: the vulnerability ... affects “Apple internal iSight webcams **found in earlier-generation** ... iMac G5 and early Intel-based iMacs, MacBooks, and MacBook Pros until roughly **2008.** (yawn) *смотрит на календарь* - социальный груффало

@berkus: у них был proof of concept, и они не без оснований говорят про то, что в более новых версиях чипов есть свои подходы. А в определённых кругах давно идёт разговор о том, что это давно используется всякими парнями из ФБР и ЦРУ. - × × ×