just now, i was online as usual and heard the camera noise like a photo was being taken. it didn't include the countdown tones from photobooth so i'm wondering if i've just been hacked for the first time and what suggestions are there for security.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
If the green light next to the camera lights up, SMILE! You're on Candid Camera!!
Note that the camera is just another service the OS provides to any app that needs it. Skype, MSN Messenger, FaceTime, to mention a few, are apps that use the camera as well. Heck, I even have a movie cataloguing app that uses the camera to grab the barcode off the box to expedite classification!
So, if you hear the click, be sure to be wearing clothes, Facebook can be a nasty place.... 😮 And you will want to audit what apps are running (as well as what webpages too, IIRC at least one of the FB online apps can take a pic too!). BTW, if the camera clicks, so can the mic be on as well.
For the camera, a bit of electrician's tape can work wonders. For the mic? A vow of silence??
You have not been hacked. Tthere is no mandatory sound associated with turning on the camera, so even if someone could turn on your camera and take a picture remotely, it wouldn't make a sound. It would turn on the green light next to the camera, which is pretty obvious against the black of the bezel unless you're in a very bright place.
I'm guessing you just hit the right key combination to trigger a screenshot (command-shift-3 or command-shift-4), which plays a shutter click sound and then drops a screen capture file on your desktop.
camera noise on my macbook
