Electronics

[keri]

Can you imagine a stranger watching every move - even in your most vulnerable, private and intimate moments - in any room of your own home?

It's possible, with the intruder gaining entry via your own computer's webcam.

This chilling story was reported on our local news last night and confirmed by a computer security expert.

Spyware is sent to your computer via an innocuous e-card. In the story, this one had a teddy bear holding balloons and it said, "Guess what? You have a secret admirer." Once you click and open it, the sender has access to all areas of your hard drive, software and peripherals. Even more terrifying, the demonstration showed how laptops left open on a family room table and in the teen daughter's bedroom could be controlled remotely, with the cyber home invader turning on the camera at will and watching every move they made inside their own home. Scary! Creepy! Dangerous!

The security expert's suggestions:

1. Never open anything sent by unknown individuals and entities. Just DELETE immediately.

2. Never leave the webcam uncovered when you're finished using the computer. Cover it with a strip of black tape or paper, even if you believe you've turned it off after Skype-ing, video chatting, etc.

3. Close the cover when you're done to ensure your privacy and security.

If I hadn't seen this on a legitimate CBS network affiliate news broadcast, I'd have sworn it was an urban legend or some sensationalized tabloid story, but this was very real and very frightening.