That depends, but generally no. That would require a hardware back-door that would allow them to turn on the computer (cameras do not run without the computer on). Some computers do have the ability to allow that through "Wake-On-Lan" for enterprise management reasons, but that is not always on by default and it also requires the computer sending the signal to be on the same network. Therefore this would be a 2 (or 3) step hack and it could not be done broadly. Any exploit/vulnerability that would allow this would likely be limited to a specific piece of hardware or software. You have to remember that when it comes to PC's, which are more ubiquitous than Macs, there are countless combinations of hardware and software that people use and not all share the same exact code. Some do use open-source code for portions of their programs and this is the only viable access a hacker could exploit to gain access en masse, but it doesn't guarantee they would still be able to a) access everything or b) do so unnoticed. And it is only a matter of time before this vulnerability is discovered and patched so it is not useful for long term surveillance. However, it's important to note that this becomes somewhat easier with Macs, iPhones and other devices that use primarily proprietary hardware and software. But again, at least with Macs, the market share is so small that unless they were targeting a specific individual or group, it wouldn't make sense to use them for mass surveillance. iPhones on the otherhand...
This is the biggest issue I have with this movie (although I'm not surprised since it came from Oliver Stone and he's known to take liberties with facts in order to make political statements). If your film is about hacking/technology, you cannot make up or overstate capabilities since it completely undermines the argument you're trying to make and just frightens people that are not fully aware of what is and isn't possible (or rather, probable).
If you research "Optic Nerve", the operation referenced in the movie, you'll find that they did not necessarily have "live" camera access to people's webcams and they did not (and probably could not) target a specific individual (although that's not out of the realm of possibility had they used other methods). What Optic Nerve did was exploit a vulnerability in Yahoo Messenger that enabled them to collect footage from cameras that were connected to chat accounts for a period of time (when the computers were left on and the Messenger app was running). While that was still ethically wrong, it's not exactly the same as being able to flip on any one specific person's live feed whenever they want. That's an overstatement of their capabilities and that type of "hacking", while not out of the realm of possibility, would require targeted resources and could not be done broadly without the involvement of third-party manufacturers or developers of the technology and software (through back-doors).
Now I'm not completely against exposing this type of activity periodically to keep it in check, but let's remember that we live in a world where every foreign power is acting in their own self-interest and is looking for any edge they can get; and where state-less actors (i.e. terrorists) are not confined to any one region or country and have resorted to operating/communicating virtually online. Cyber warfare has become the new "arms race" since it is significantly less costly and visible than military proliferation, yet powerful enough to destabilize or cripple a country with little or no warning (or trace). And many of these foreign actors don't have to concern themselves with constitutional rights and limitations, which could put us at a disadvantage.
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ihearthomonids
7 years ago
thanks for all the info
This is the biggest issue I have with this movie
although I'm not surprised since it came from Oliver Stone and he's known to take liberties with facts in order to make political statements
yeah seriously i know NOTHING about computers and this computer spying thing just threw up a huge red flag for me just cuz of common sense. I'm not saying you should make up lies but, in a weird sort of twisted way, if you’re GONNA lie at least don’t make the lies so stupid that any novice could figure it out that something’s fishy. i had the same complaint about jfk...i watched that movie knowing NOTHING about jfk but the whole magic bullet crap....that bullet goes in a straight friggin line if you move connally over a few inches and have them both looking toward the right. that was obvious to me when i was fifteen and drunk on my daddy’s yukon jack. screw you oliver stone
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[deleted]
7 years ago
I agreed with nearly everything Age_of_Serenity wrote except for the following distortion/misunderstanding.
"This is the biggest issue I have with this movie (although I'm not surprised since it came from Oliver Stone and he's known to take liberties with facts in order to make political statements). If your film is about hacking/technology, you cannot make up or overstate capabilities since it completely undermines the argument you're trying to make and just frightens people that are not fully aware of what is and isn't possible (or rather, probable)."
All directors alter the "facts" somewhat to protect the names of the real life characters or add poetic license in. However, that does not mean Stone is distorting the facts and certainly not in this case. No director can be 100% accurate with the facts. That would require huge amounts of research, experts and sometimes knowledge that isn't even known at the time the movie was created. As they say hindsight is 20/20 (with one caveat - most people are amnesiacs today). I have woken MY OWN computers up from LAN but yes you can hear the startup processes. However, with smart phones, tablets and newer computers it is not difficult for the government and hackers to wake up just the camera, microphones (which are always on unless you disable them) and spy upon you. That's what all the software mentioned in the movie and by Snowden and similar guys have told you. It is not difficult for them to hack your network. This happened once to a Tablet I bought when I turned it off but left it plugged in to charge for the night. When I woke the operating system had updated itself without my permission to an OS I did not want. So I returned it. Additionally if you have a desktop or laptop that you leave plugged in or with the battery it can be theoretically be started up when you are not in the room and "play dead".
Watch this speech by Jake Appelbaum to get an idea of many of the things they are capable of doing and how you can somewhat protect yourself.
Jacob Appelbaum at 30c3: To Protect And Infect, The Militarization of the Internet
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/01/jacob-appelbaum-30c3-protect-infect-militarization-internet-transcript.html
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