[1]Webcam spying is turning out to be a major threat these days and that’s why it is better to disable your webcam so that hackers do not hack your webcam. There have been many incidents reported from all over the world about how hackers can access your webcam and spy your online proceedings and anything hooked to your network. They can then modify these images and videos in compromising ways and upload them to various websites. Therefore, it is better to disable your webcam for the safety of your family members and yourself.
Why it is Important to Disable Your Webcam
A few years back, no one really worried about webcam spying. But, today it is considered one of the most horrifying hacking methods. It was only recently people started to think about how to disable their webcam when they are not using it, so that no one can hack it. According to researchers, a webcam is one of the easiest devices to hack and without giving any clues, they can record everything that is within ‘eyesight’ of your webcam in your home or office and show it to the world. So, what can you do to disable your webcam? It’s a fairly easy process, and you actually have a number of ways in which you can disable it. They are discussed below.
Ways to Disable Your Webcam
- Unplugging It: If you have a separate camera, then when not in use, the best way to disable it is to simply unplug it. When your webcam is unplugged, no one can hack it. Unplugging the USB webcam is the safest way to avoid hacking.
- Disable Your Webcam via BIOS: If your laptop has an integrated webcam, if your BIOS supports webcam, then the best and easiest way is to disable your webcam via BIOS. To disable your webcam via BIOS, you need to reboot your laptop, then press F2 and get into BIOS. Now, search for webcam and disable it. Most laptops have easy to use toggles for enabling and disabling.
- Removing it from OS: Even though removing or disabling your webcam from your OS is not considered a foolproof method by many, you can still disable your webcam via this method. Go to the Device Manager and from Imaging Devices, locate your webcam. Now, right click on it to choose the option disable or uninstall. The problem with this approach is that if someone has remote access to your system, he can easily enable it.
- Cover It Up: Probably the easiest way to disable the camera is just cover it. Covering your webcam is another option that is used by millions of users worldwide. Today, you can get covers make specifically to hide your webcam so that even if someone does hack it, they won’t see anything. If you are using a laptop, you can use electrical tape or pretty much anything to cover the view of the webcam.
Conclusion
The world is changing and today you have to be careful when using a webcam and computer. Hackers are always trying new various methods to hack your data and personal life, and the webcam is one of the easiest targets. Using any of the options above can be used to disable your webcam and protect your privacy from webcam peeping toms.