'Tape Your Webcam': Horrifying Malware Broadcasts You to the World

[IceWizard]

Video-hosting platforms and Internet users need to do more to combat the 'slaving' of devices, advocates warn.

The Internet is flush with webcam videos of
people who clicked unwittingly on a malware link and opened their computer to anonymous
miscreants intent on mocking, blackmailing or
simply spying on them, according to a report being published Thursday.

There’s not enough being done about such little-known but alarming invasions of privacy, the Digital Citizens Alliance says in its report on computer “slaving” by programs known as
Remote Access Trojans, or RATs.

However, the organization says both corporations and individuals can take steps to
address the problem. “Tape your webcam,” advises Adam Benson, deputy executive director of the Digital Citizens Alliance. “I have tape on both my work computer and home computer.”

He also suggests not clicking on links with uncertain destinations, and keeping anti-virus software and device operating systems up to date.

[RELATED: Most Android Phones Vulnerable to Remote Activation of Cameras, Microphones]

“The camera on your computer, when hacked,
can become a tool to spy on you in your own
home. And it’s easy,” the report warns.

While the scope of the problem isn’t clear, report authors found hundreds of victim and tutorial videos shared online, as well as chat forums through which amateur hackers share tips and programs that are “inexpensive and technically simple to use.”

“I don’t think people necessarily know how
prevalent it is,” Benson says. “The clear and
present danger can be lost on people
sometimes.”

For those who don’t take the adequate
precautions, or whose virus-detecting software
has not kept up with ceaselessly innovating
hackers, the consequences can be dire.

One famous victim of computer slaving, 2013
Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, fought back,
informing the FBI and winning a prison sentence for a man who took photos of her using her webcam.

But investigators believe many other victims don’t come forward or are unaware they were victimized.

[READ: Beware of Butt Dialing, Court Rules]

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Wolf was shown some of the victim videos in the report.

“This could have been my face blurred out,” she said, “and it’s sad because they seriously have no idea. I mean I had not one clue of having someone watching me. It never passed my mind for the entire year.”

One video cited in the report (but apparently
removed from YouTube as of Wednesday),
featured a discussion in Arabic of the young
woman being surveilled.

“This girl is seriously the most beautiful victim I’ve had so far. She is quite clean, I just saw her naked,” a viewer wrote in Arabic.

Benson says the use of RATs, which can affect viewers in less visual but equally disturbing ways by granting hackers access to all files on a computer, can’t be crushed entirely by the use of anti-virus and anti-malware software.

Even Internet users who are aware of the
potential harm and take measures to protect
themselves may not be immune.

“I don’t think they realize there’s a community out there that’s strategizing all the time about how to bind malicious files to movies and music and videos,” Benson says.

Law enforcement experts cited in the report
expressed concern about authorities' readiness to combat the problem, and noted the various abuses hackers can inflict.

“I think that RATs are an interesting tool
because they allow the criminals to do any
number of crimes. I mean we’ve talked about
going after young women and their computers,
but you know the sky’s the limit for the types of
cases that a RAT can be used in,” said Wesley Hsu, chief of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Scott Aken, a former FBI cybercrime agent, told report authors that “law enforcement just isn’t equipped at this stage of the game to keep up with this stuff as fast as it’s changing. People aren’t trained enough.”

The Digital Citizens Alliance says it’s important
that, in addition to Internet users and law
enforcement, companies be more aggressive in combating the exploitation of victims. Many companies unwittingly have advertisements on victim or instructional videos, according to the report.

And revenue-sharing by companies like YouTube may pay some culprits for their misdeeds if they aren't detected.

[FBI Director: Authorities 'Will Go to Jail' If They Look at Snapchats Without Warrant]

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Google, YouTube’s parent company, has
unveiled an online mechanism that allows people to request removal of non-consensual
material from its platforms.

The reporting form can be used to remove content taken from “slaved” computers, though it was established in part to address revenge porn.

But to report an intrusion, people first need to
know about it.

Despite hundreds or thousands of views on YouTube videos – which can be found by searching “rat victims” – it’s usually not clear
victims are aware their actions have been
broadcast to the world.

The report says that can be rectified if Google
treats the content like child pornography and
crafts a comprehensive response.

A YouTube spokesperson said in an emailed statement the video-hosting service, which sees an estimated 400 hours of video uploaded every minute, "has clear policies that outline what content is acceptable to post, and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users."

YouTube says it takes the matter seriously and
that its policies include a ban on instructional
videos for hacking people's computers.

Any user can "flag" a video for review.

Benson says the report’s aim is to help kick off a conversation about the threat. “It’s an issue that will simmer up at some point,” he says.