[jjguy]

No. It is an unreasonable paranoia, to steal kenneth’s words.

In addition to kenneth’s very practical perspective on the technical challenges, the other consideration is that you are simply not worth the trouble.

Grabbing audio, video or picture content worth blackmailing someone with is time-consuming, above and beyond the technical challenge. There is not an at-scale monetization path for an attacker to make it worth his time for the general user.

High-profile folks like Comey and Zuckerburg change that decision calculus - they are likely to be individually targeted for many reasons. You are not.

[kevin_b_er]

Grabbing your audiovisual content is not for blackmailing. It is to determine if you are watching a TV show without telling you that an app is doing that. It is for profiling everyone and violating your privacy at scale to making money off the results.

[hrktb]

Friends were covering their camera after accidentaly triggering the broadcast feature in facebook.

Is it paranoia if based on experience ?

[gburdell3]

Brave words to say here on HN, but I completely agree. Seeing one of those webcam covers is a good indicator of who not to talk to if I want to avoid a lecture about why I may as well be handing my information to "the government" on a silver platter if I didn't write my own bootloader.

[jfrankamp]

This is silly to discuss who is 'worth it' as a target. The nets are cast wide and good malware will simply seek the vulnerable. Think of the hard drive encrypting ransomware. If they add illicit webcam pictures into the "PAY ME NOW" screen that's a massive advantage. Attempting to block sensors is simply least-privilege security stance applied to physical devices.

[bornabox]

If you work in IT, you well may be "worth the trouble", because you probably have more access than a "normal" user. First you try to compromise someone in the IT department, then someone in the C-Suite. Goes for social engineering as well.

[scarface74]

What will they see from your camera except you looking at a computer?

[RobertRoberts]

I disagree, I personally have had dangerous people in my life, and the concerns for being targeted are real. Not for monetary reasons, but personal ones.