The National Crime Agency gathered several images from the computer of one Stefan Rigo, 34 with indications of sexual activities taking places between different individuals who were on Skype at that time.
Arrested in November last year during an international investigation, Rigo has been given a 20-week suspended sentence and is also placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years. He targeted a variety of victims after gaining remote access to their computers' webcams.
In July, Rigo admitted his guilt to the count of voyeurism and another computer-related offence during a hearing. The Court took Rigo's statement and his status on the sex offender's register into consideration and sentenced him for 200 hours for the next year.
 |
| (pc-google images) |
Rigo had used his ex-girlfriend's credentials to purchase BlackShades, a remote access trojan (RAT) which allows for a high level of surreptitious control over a victim's computer including the access to their webcams and microphones. An NCA spokesperson on his Statement said,"The problem with RATs specifically is a lot of the time people don't know they're being affected,". Blackshades has been available in the market since 2010 and that too for a price as low as USD 40.
 |
| (pc-google images) |
There have also been cases in which hackers sold access to specific cameras. Security cameras in buildings may be at risk too, though there are sometimes difficulties in publicly discussing their genuineness .
A researcher recently cancelled a forthcoming talk on the issue following legal pressure from the manufacturers of widely-used surveillance cameras. Gianni Gnesa was supposed to discuss the "vulnerabilities found in major surveillance cameras and show how attackers use them to stay undetected" at the HITB GSEC security conference in Singapore.
