[Solved] Is is possible to hack a web cam? (Not a hacker)

Hello Everybody:

I would like to know if it's possible to hack a web cam? If so, the hacker can really see through the camera without the hacked-system's user knowing about it?

A few days ago my anti malware software fount a malware named "Backdoor.PoisonIvy", I read that this malware is very bad very dangerous, to the point that the computer should be reformatted also if been removed.

Do the two things have to do?

Any advices on how to be more safe in terms of securing all "doors" of the system?

Thank you.

It's been a while for me, so I wouldn't be able to do this on my end without uninstalling and doing a fresh install of SpyBot, but if you haven't installed the beta update yet, then you can manually check the version of the originally file in the program after running a program update. At least this will tell us if they integrated the beta update into the program.

I do feel that Avast! is better than AVG, but then again, this past week I have uninstalled Avast! to give Microsoft Security Essentials a try because of the recent reviews that it received.

Back doors have a variety of uses. Some just sit idle waiting for commands, after which time who ever is controlling them can do what ever they want (within the limits of the back door in question) Other back doors log information. But they can only connect or transmit when there is an active connection.

As for RootKits, these hook into the kernel which enables them to hide their processes so they should not show up at all except with special detection tools such a BlackLight or other such tools. Although this past year there has been some newer RootKits out there which load themselves Before the operating system[/i]. As such, these RootKits are extremely difficult to detect, especially if you happen to get infected with one of the newer BootKits which install themselve to the MBR, the BIOS and load themselves to memory. This type is extremely difficult to detect and get rid of and if your BIOS chip is soldered on instead of being in a socket, then the motherboard is toast.

But I wouldn't worry about this last type of RootKit as I haven't come across many cases yet.

RootKits are generally used to protect and hide other processes such as Bots, worms, Malware, a spam generator, what ever the controller might have hiding on your system. You won't see any of the memory usage as the processes are hidden from the system.

Gmer is a special tool developed to detect and remove RootKits, especially those installed to the MBR of the drive. This tool was developed by a Russian who fights Malware.

More than anything the talk of RootKits is probably making you crap your pants just thinking about the worst case scenarios. Don't worry about any of this.

Also, don't worry about hidding any in your logs.

Just follow the advise I gave you about reading the pinned topics, post your logs from both programs and if there is any other information they want or program logs, be sure to include it. Someone will be sure to help you make sure your system is clean.

If by any chance they think there is a RootKit, they will let you know as they will diagnose the problem by the information you give them along with your logs. They may ask you to run some other specific programs to remove anything they may see or to help confirm or diagnose anything they may suspect and they will give you detailed instructions for anything they may need you to do.

MBR = Master Boot Record

The GMER website has a tutorial which shows how to recognize a RootKit infection detected by GMER and how to use the tool correctly.

The AVG items sound like they possibly belong to your AVG anti-virus.

Active connection means just that, a physical connection between your computer and the internet. With Broadband, as long as your computer is turned on, the connection is active unless you physically disconnect it. With Dial-up, you are only connected when you dial out with your modem until such time as you disconnect, that is to say "if you had a dial-up connection"

With RootKits, when asking for Remote Tech Support, these can only be diagnosed/determined through the use of various tools and the logs these tools turn out along with the description of problems the user may have or may be encountering with their system.

The only Type RootKit I know of for which a motherboard would need to be replaced is the type I spoke of which loads itself directly to the BIOS. Cause the only way the motherboard can be saved is if the BIOS chip is in a socket as you can usually order a new BIOS chip directly from the motherboard manufacturer.

I refer users to the Spywareinfo Forums is cause there are many trained users there who help people every day with finding out what form of infects is on their systems and they help with clearing it out.

My main reason for referring users there is cause Remote Tech Support is not my strong point. I'm the type of person who has to work directly on the system to find out what is wrong and fix it myself. I'm not very good at talking others through this sort of stuff.

Just remember, MBR is one thing, but the newer type which installs to both MBR and BIOS is the one you need to watch out for.

The surest way to find out if you have the type which installs to BIOS and MBR would be to remove your hard drive from the system, then replace it with a blank hard drive and install windows to it.

If it starts showing signs of problems within a few days, then you know the RootKit reinstalled itself from the BIOS to the MBR of the hard drive which also means that it will have downloaded other Malware components such as Bots or what ever other components it might comprise of.

To prevent BIOS infection of a clean system, it's best to Password protect the BIOS with a strong password, one which can't be broken with such as a dictionary attack.

As to a drive which has previously been infected, you can always connect the drive to a clean system as a secondary drive to do what ever cleaning may need to be done including formatting the MBR of the drive from a command prompt.

tanmaysnv
I can see from your replay to this thread that you did bother to read the contents of the thread itself as your answer was only to the subject without knowing what the content of the thread was.

Besides that, the thread was an old thread which had already been dealt with.

The Op in question had been asking if it was possible for someone else to control his web cam. Not if he could hack his system or someone else's system.

And yes, his system was badly infected already which was the whole purpose of this thread.

You need to read what is posted before you rush in and post a nonsense answer to a thread, an answer which has nothing to do with the thread in question. Plus you need to pay attention to how old the thread is.

Just because the Op does not elect to select a post as best answer does not mean that none of the posts were of help to the Op. It's just that a lot of users just don't bother to select a post as the best answer.

I'm familiar with malware removal as I have been trained in the Boot Camp for this and I have been dealing with such parasites for years now.

Best answer selected by l_r_c_t.