A short film created by ZBros Productions is gaining traction online this week as it highlights online issues many people are unaware of.
The film, entitled “Webcam” is based on the real events that surrounded a 2010 criminal investigation.
In a practice that has become known as “sextortion”, hackers are remotely controlling computers to spy at unsuspecting victims through their webcams.
In 2010, a 31-year-old man was arrested following a two-year investigation. The hacker knew every move his victim made. He controlled her computer webcam and microphone. He could see her, hear her conversations and monitor knew every move she made online.
Computers are easily compromised through a technique called “spear-phishing” which is often spread through social networking sites.
In the 2010 case, the hacker posed online as a young woman’s friend or sister and sent messages with attachments asking if the victim wanted to see a video. As the mail appeared to be from a trusted source, the victims usually didn’t think twice about opening the attachment. When they did, the virus secretly installed itself, and the hacker had total control over their computers—including all files and folders and applications like webcams, and microphones.
The below film is a fictitious reconstruction of what the hacker had access to.
The makers of the film are urging people to be more cautious with their online behaviours, technologies and security.
