@Lindsay, Perhaps he figured out a way to get a snap without the green light coming on (or any light, PC or mac). Anyway you slice it, that guys a sleazoid.

morbo

Thank god I'm my own computer repair geek! I wonder if he did this on any of Apple's computers, because the green light shows up when the iSight is on! Not that everyone is aware of that though.

Actually, I'd to have this program and a boyfriend who'd give me permission to use it on them. Sounds fun!

LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M

for what its worth...Gainesville, FL...UF...just voted top party school in the country, right...its just how this guy likes to party! Stalkerific! Go Gators!

BryaninFlorida

He was caught cause the software was named web cam spy or something like that. Any rational person would (not do this in the first place) name the files something like "Ram-utilx86" or some other hidden mumbo jumbo and install a firmware hack to turn off that little light (is that even possible?)

Glaiel-Gamer

@kcm117: Unless your getting paid to do so.

tsvb

I wonder how he got busted. That said what a creep.

tsvb

this is why you should always close your laptop, and not undress in front of it while its on.

kcm117

He'll be blacklisted and never allowed to work in IT again.

MagnoliaBoy

I wonder what else the cameras captured other then women undressing or other private acts.

Emiat

He'll be making millions within a month of release

Denver80203

I am feeling better about my magnetic iSight patch.

DeadWriter

What a douche, I hope they throw the book at him!

Ambiguous Blob 2.0

This happened in Florida? I'm shocked. Just shocked.

bobdobbs

This would be so much better if his name was Craig Slist.

Con Seannery

I did this to my own laptop. Then I snuck on the server later to look at myself. hehe.

Uncle Remus

and there used to be when a peeping tom was just putting holes in girl's bathrooms to see....(ala Porky's )

Rogg2000

Looks like a guy who spent a lot of time in high school polishing the toes of his shoes trying to see if he could get them shiny enough to peep up skirts.

PastorDoodah

@MagnoliaBoy: I am sure he can get a job writting spyware and still make a living off of it unfortunetly.

taftsearlobe33

He could have stayed out of jail for just $9.95 a month.

DeadWriter

I don't see what the big deal is. He's an asshole.

Stacky Botrus

@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M:
@morbo:

FTA:
In addition to reduced battery life, Garcia told the Gainesville Sun that her laptop's light turned on every time she got near it-a light that many of us know signals that the built-in camera is in use.
[...]
Unfortunately for Garcia, that included 20,000 photos of her, her friends, and her boyfriend. Since the laptop mostly resided in her bedroom, some of them were taken while she was not clothed.

so no, people aren't always smart enough to realize that the camera is on

skyshard

Shame... he's cute.

frombuenosaires

@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: Any software you want to send my way to use on my CPU's, I'll gladly install. I'll also take any extra cams I can ;). My role model was JenniCam, and she had a bunch of cams around her place.

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

dorgem?

JuiceDaddy

@kcm117: @skyshard: I always disrobe in front of my webcam(s), JerseyCam. And while one does have a red light to indicate it's on, my other one doesn't. After a few days, you forget it's on. But doing this to a person who doesn't want it is wrong. I let everyone who comes into my room/office know that they're online. Especially if they're wearing boxers.!

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

awesome

mangamonster

Technology! Imagine what kids will be arrested for in 2050. 3DD Scanning?

ryeguy_24

@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: You're going to start fucking your best friend's boyfriend and then marry him?

Xavoc

He won't stay long in jail... the US government will use his skills to install a better version of this spyware on all computers... BIG Brother is watching YOU, SCREW your freedo(o)m !!!

prouted

@Xavoc: That's crazy talk. I would need a friend first...

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: Touche

Xavoc

@Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans: as for that other stuff....my macbook is not talking to me these days. Seems I leave the webcam on too often :S

Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans

@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: Funny that an application like this could be used as an F-U-to-the-thief tool, where you can take snapshots of whoever took your stolen laptop and you get the images on a remote server you can access.

Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans

@frombuenosaires: And I'm sure his cell mate will say the same thing.

Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans

Pics or it didn't happen.

Doctor Dentz

Laptops with webcams with no cover is the problem. When I got one I was flabbergasted at how the manufacturers could do such a thing. I mean, this malware, its almost banal and called for when you have thousands of ready and plugged in cameras just waiting there... always cover or unplug your webcam when not in use

User Formerly known as Arelar

@Doctor Dentz: Curse you, Doctor! *shakes fist* Beat me to it.

justinsane

@User Formerly known as Arelar: OR, you could just disable the WebCam in your BIOS settings. That makes it just a bit more difficult for a 'hacker' to get their way with it. My WebCam and Card Reader are typically always off (per the BIOS) on my EEE Pc.

Imahottguy

If I were a women I would take it as a complement.

MartyrByFire

@MartyrByFire: Its no compliment to have your privacy and rights violated. Its a sexual crime, pure and simple.

Curves

@MartyrByFire: As opposed to the supplement?

soggy_cheerio

Misguided dipshit. What a weak-minded fool.

MastaFalse

@MagnoliaBoy: He'll be congratulated, given a medal by Dubya personally, and will be hired by the NSA.

qbrad

@B1663R: Why am I a douche?

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

@Xavoc: hey, you spelled douche wrong ;)

B1663R

I think its getting blown out of proportion. Back in the good old days she'd just slap him across the face. Now she's slapping him with a lawsuit...

catfewd

@Glaiel-Gamer:

How about iexplore.exe?

HAHA! =0}

yoshi

don't even know why he had to resort to doing that. Dude is kinda cute. I'm sure he could've gotten women. It's not like he looked like the Zune guy or anything.

bxstrb

dude looks exactly like someone we fired a few years ago

s017jrs

American Pie That Bitch!
what a pervert, he needs a swift kick in the groin!

Costermonger

Skeezy lookin' fella.

crayonwaxy

I love how all these commenters think this guy has mad h4x0r skills.

"He won't stay long in jail... the US government will use his skills to install a better version of this spyware on all computers"

PLEASE. It doesn't take much to throw a application together to take some webcam pics and upload them to the web. Seriously people.

Where did this guy work? Was this an former Apple store genius?

Navin R Johnson

@Navin R Johnson: Agreed. Yawcam on startup, set to autohide, and do something about the system tray icon. Done.

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

@Git'Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: Not that hard. On Windows, run it as a scheduled task that runs on "startup". Turn off the "stop this task if running for then 72 hours" and the "running on batteries" attribute. IF it still displays the system tray icon, use something like Icon Editor to replace it (in the exe or dll) with something like the volume icon, or better yet, a blank square matching the sysTray's color. Turning off the light on a webcam *sometimes* can be done, but it is on a case by case basis according to the manufacturer. I am pretty sure older logitechs had this in their API, but I am not so sure on the newer 2 MP ones.

Obligatory Disclaimer: I offer the above only for use on your own machine. And if you don't see a reason for something like this on your own machine, then allow me to send you a nine page complaint I filed with my local PD against my ex-business partner with WireShark (old Ethereal) logs running via the above method and entry gained via a back-door-exploit vnchooks.dll that "someone" attached to my legitimate copy of EchoServer. In my case, I found the easiest way to hide the "light on" for a webcam recording was to open the cam's case and snip the wire to the LED.

hypereric

I remember something about cable companies planning to install cameras in TV boxes...

How would it be different except for the fact that this guy doesn't have the same lobby power as the cable companies?

wingbatwu

If these women needed him to fix or maintain their laptop then how did they ever discover the app?

Something tells me that moron TALKED too much.

The first rule about about peeping.....NEVER talk about peeping!!!!

JEmlay

Yeah! Done!

Triplet66

@MartyrByFire: Definitely not a compliment. That's like saying someone should date their stalker because "OMG HE LIKES YOU ALREADY!"

anyway, what a creep. There's plenty of porn on the internet, from people who gave their consent. That is an invasion of privacy.

jinnarh

@wingbatwu: About those cable boxes. Electrical tape.

Crowbot

@hypereric: Couldn't you poke a hole through the LED or otherwise smash it to blank it out. maybe some black paint.

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

@bxstrb:
I was thinking the same thing. This is the sort of story you'd expect to see a picture of some fat, ugly skeezoid as the perp. But this guy? He's okay enough looking to get chicks himself. WTF.

jennyfur

@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: I have the Quickcam Orbit Sphere, or whatever they call it. Encased in a ball of plastic. Anyway, you can also just use a bit of electrical tape if the assembly of your webcam is black. But, electrical tape is easily noticeable. So open it up and snip the wire. Then when you catch the perp, just connect the wire back together. In the end, I didn't catch anything good on the webcam. OTOH, the wireshark running from task scheduler worked real good. But, OTOH (just pretend I have three hands :-), getting the local po-po to understand a packet sniffer's log files is like pulling teeth. I actually had one cop tell me that if "someone did not physically enter your residence and attach something to your computer it is not our jurisdiction". I asked him if his PD's intranet was hacked into and everything destroyed by someone in Alaska, what would he do? He told me he would contact the Alaskan authorities. I said "good!, now how do you know the guy was in Alaska unless your upstream provided you with their logs via a FRICKIN LOCAL subpoena?!!??!". This is when he went out to his car to contact his "Seargent" for a long time.

Back to this story, I *honestly* cannot believe this guy got busted. The only reason he prolly did is because he did it in gainesville. I would assume their PD is a teeny bit more knowledgable about computer crimes, with that being Gator headquarters and all. H3ll, I'm only about an hour from gainesville, and unless your network savvy and then manage to drag in the Florida *state level* cyber crime unit to explain to the locals that "yes, he has a case", forget about getting any form of justice in the sunshine state if you have had cyber crime performed against you. When I move, one of the major decisions about where I move to will be "what kind of rating does the target county/city PD have for cyber crime?"

In short, want to do cybercrime? Move to Floriduh (just stay away from the university towns)!

hypereric

@wingbatwu: This was years ago (we're talking close to ten), but I remember seeing something where they wanted to install cameras to monitor your viewing habits. Supposedly, it was so they could tell if you were watching what you were tuned in to or if you wer edoing something else and just had the TV on. They claimed it was to make show ratings more accurate.

falandil

@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: it was the light that tipped her off, it seems, from the article.

Zlevee

@jennyfur: Creepy has nothing to do with looks.

Crowbot

@bxstrb: and @jennyfur: It's not about looks, to get a girlfriend, you actually have to talk to women!
And maybe the guy is too shy or too dumb get a nice conversation going.
And there's always the possibility that he just thought "I'll get a lot of pics of real life, hot chicks, getting undressed or having sex with their boyfriends!", which may seem stupid or creepy to a lot of people, but has exactly the same effect of those videos of celebrity people (or not) in their intimacy, that leak out to the Internet all the time.
People are just too curious, and some of them are willing to break all the rules because of that!
Reality TV is the living proof.

wenderson

@hypereric: I have an Orbit as well. I like the PTZ on it. It's the webcam on the right on JerseyCam. I like it b/c it follows me, while the one on the right is just a high end Logitech. That one does have a slider on it which you can close to make sure no one can see you if you don't want them to. I never put it down though.

Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity

@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity: I just found out about that from the link you posted. In a way, that woman almost launched the webcam centric things we see on the internet today. Pretty amazing stuff.

As for this freak, he'll do some jail time and probably be caught trying to take upskirt photos with his new cellphone in the future. He may also go on to write further spyware codes, possibly for money.

kylo4

I have "computer fixin" skills too but I tell no one. People will bother you at all hours asking random BS.

I guess this guy figured a way to do it and have the costs built-in.

hejustlaughs