It’s really pretty simple: if you are the kind of person that regularly finds that you’ve got viruses on your PC, regardless of how safe you think you’ve been, then you should likely cover the camera. On the other hand, if your PC is clean and you consider yourself security concious and cautious about clicking links, then you are likely ok. Keep in mind that the amount of work it would take to hack a specific PC when the owner is security aware is non trivial, and only a likely target if you are KNOWN to keep confidential data on it ( like a well known auditor that keeps large lists of banking codes on his/her PC)
Don’t let paranoia get the best of you....
On my train commute to work, I started to notice more and more of this behavior on people's laptops. More often than not, people have a piece of masking tape or sticky note blocking their laptop camera. Are people just paranoid that the camera may suddenly start recording them or is it because they are camera-shy during video conferences? I personally do not block my camera on my laptop, but it has got me thinking about it. Should I be, but for what reason? Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I am curious as to why people do it and if you do, why? If for laptops, should they be covering up their phone cameras too? Looking forward to what you think. Thank you.
--Submitted by Karen A.

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