At
the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, the pair explained how they found loopholes in older Samsung models and were able to turn on a set's video camera without the user's knowledge. Such a proof-of-concept attack has been demonstrated before, and Samsung reportedly has closed the loopholes. (Notice that new Samsung sets have a camera that can be flipped up to point at the ceiling.)
In fact, the U.S. government has demonstrated that it has just such a capability as part of its ongoing cyber espionage battle with foreign governments. Security analysts say the sophisticated spyware dubbed Flame was created by government programmers, and among its many features, the program is able to turn on a target's Web cam and record video (all without turning on the telltale flashing recording light). In addition, hackers routinely use programs called remote administration tools (or RATs) to switch on a victim's camera remotely, effectively turning the video camera in an office or living room into a private CCTV monitor.
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