Find Out When Malware Is Trying to Access Your Mac’s Camera or Microphone Using This App
I started covering my laptop camera about five years ago. At the time, my decision was motivated not so much by security concerns as by someone handing me a camera cover at a conference, but the threat is definitely real.
Even without targeted hacks, malware often spies on computer users by recording video or audio, sometimes in a way that can go unnoticed.
Oversight is a piece of Mac software that controls your Mac’s microphone and webcam, and then informs you through a pop-up window when and when your computer’s internal microphone is activated, or when an application is accessing the webcam.
You dream, of course, that you will never need it. However, after installing it, you will receive a warning that they are being used without your consent so that you can stop them.
While the webcam usually has this green light to let you know that something is wrong, sometimes you won’t notice it right away, or the malware will open authorized use of the camera through something like Skype or FaceTime.
Supervision notifications tell you exactly what is trying to access your microphone or camera, so you can make sure you’re okay with that.
The service notes that anyone specifically trying to bypass software can probably do it, but it could be a decent line of defense against things like malware attacks targeting the general public.