The FBI recommends you cover your laptop’s webcam, for good reason

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FBI director James Comey recently recommended that we all cover our webcams with tape for security reasons. Comey believes that doing so is a simple step for people to “take responsibility for their own safety and security.”

Apparently Comey doesn’t want to be spied on. In questions during a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Comey revealed that cam-covering is commonplace at the FBI and other government offices. “It’s not crazy that the FBI director cares about personal security as well,” he added. “If you go into any government office, we all have our little camera things that sit on top of the screen, they all have a little lid that closes down on them. You do that so people who do not have authority don’t look at you. I think that’s a good thing.”

That the FBI’s director covers his cams may be a surprise to some, just as it was when people spotted Mark Zuckerberg’s webcam tape-over in a photo of his Facebook desk this spring.

But many of us who’ve been paying attention to cybercrime and punishment have been covering our webcams for years, and telling all our friends and family to do it, too. What’s more surprising is that it’s taken this long for officials and the press to raise the alarm. I mean, they’re just a few years behind, but hey, it’s nice to know they care.

Right-Mind