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Should you cover your webcam?

Should you cover your webcam?

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Update February 2nd 8:00AM ET: This article was originally published on November 4, 2017 and has been updated to include video.

Webcams have presented a security liability for years, yet many of us don't cover them up. Should we? Edward Snowden, Mark Zuckerberg, and former FBI director James Comey all seem to — but none of us are celebrities or heads of state, so what good does it do us?

Well, not much! Tape might give you some peace of mind because it thwarts webcam attacks well, but the reality is that cameras and microphones are everywhere now, including in your voice-enabled TV remote, your Alexa device, and your phone. You can't easily disable or tape over a microphone, and audio clips can be just as damaging as video content. 

I address all this in the above video, so watch, enjoy, and think about hackers watching you sleep at night. But don't think too hard about it because that's scary.