Wash Times
What could go wrong?
The malware, dubbed “PlaceRaider,” “allows remote hackers to reconstruct rich, three-dimensional models of the smartphone owner’s personal indoor spaces through completely opportunistic use of the camera,” the researchers said in a study published last week.
The program uses images from the camera and positional information from the smartphone’s gyroscopic and other sensors to map spaces the phone’s user spends a lot of time in, such as a home or office.
“Remote burglars” could use these three-dimensional models to “study the environment carefully and steal virtual objects [visible to the camera] … such as as financial documents [or] information on computer monitors,” the researchers reported.
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Didn’t they do this in Batman?
Punchenko on October 3, 2012 at 7:04 PM
I keep mine on the kitchen counter. Hope they didn’t steal my secret recipe for bologna sandwiches.
RedWinged Blackbird on October 3, 2012 at 7:22 PM
Hah, yes, I do believe the did.
Now where’s my GI-issue Batarang, damnit!
Dirt McGirt on October 3, 2012 at 7:24 PM
My cell phone doesn’t even have a camera. But does have an actual keypad.
/love my dumbphone
Ugly on October 3, 2012 at 7:34 PM
I only switch mine on when I need to make a call (hate phones), and never download apps. Other than that, I could simply cover the camera lens with tape – if I were paranoid, that is.
OldEnglish on October 3, 2012 at 7:43 PM
They know where your cookie jar is…and when you’re not home!!
Manufacturers should exercise more common sense when they incorporate potentially intrusive functions into consumer devices, and consumers should exercise more common sense when they buy such things. Things such as Power (On/Off), GPS, and Cameras should have a hard-wired local OFF switch which does not depend on software and cannot be bypassed remotely.
Does anyone really think that EVERYONE involved with design, manufacture, and communication service is honest and would NEVER steal from you?? If so, you are a candidate for a “Darwin Award”!
landlines on October 3, 2012 at 7:54 PM
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury is to blame.
maynila on October 3, 2012 at 7:54 PM
Why I avoid wireless technology like the plague, reason #1,000,000.
MelonCollie on October 3, 2012 at 9:13 PM