Two unrelated stories become one interesting scenario

http://www.netwitness.com

First, security firm Netwitness launches an "Oh my God, the world is coming to an end and there is nothing you can do about it unless you buy Netwitness" (They want you to register for the whitepaper, but there are enough references to in the press that you don't REALLY have to if you don't want to) regarding a particularly successful bot, part of the Zeus network that they are calling Kebner.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I really like Netwitness. I wish I had a budget that would allow me to install it, cause being able to mine weeks of network traffic with an intelligent engine to find stuff going on is actually pretty cool.

I digress...

Based on the cache of data that Netwitness claims to have found, there are about 75,000 computers out there part of the botnet. That's 75,000 computers out there who don't even know that they can be taken over at the slightest whim of some nefarious miscreant.

The next thing I saw was this little gem:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html

A school district outside of Philly bought laptop computers for all of their HS students. What the administrators failed to disclose was that there was embedded code that allowed them to activate the webcams on those laptops, even if they were at HOME. The parents got wind of it when a student was disciplined for "improper behavior" (I'm not even sure I want to know what it is), and the vice principal showed them, wait for it, a picture snapped from the webcam. Needless to say, the class action lawsuit has begun.

Ok, let's put these two together...

Of those 75,000 computers, how many of them have webcams attached (like, for example, the vast majority of newer laptops)? It seems to me to be pretty trivial for Mr. Evil-Botnet-Creator to start silently turning on webcams and waiting to find someone in a, shall we say, compromising situation.

The solution -- "adhesive strip bandages" (aka Bandaids). If you have a laptop with a built-in webcam, run, do not walk, to your medicine cabinet and grab a small bandaid. Position it with the pad on the camera (you don't want the adhesive on it, do you?) and you are safe. Remove the bandaid when you want to use the camera, replace it when you are done. Oh wait, that pesky thing had a built in microphone, didn't it. Crap. Haven't got that one figured out yet. If you think of something, put it in the comments!