There was something very interesting about the photo that Mark Zuckerberg posted today as Instagram reached the milestone of 500 million monthly users. But what really caught the attention of prudent observers was a different detail.
Did you notice? For that you will have to zoom in on the picture and take a close look at the MacBook Pro in the background: the webcam and microphone are both covered with tape.
Yes, some might argue that may be it isn’t Zuck’s laptop, but seeing the similar setup in his previous Facebook Live Videos, we can comfortably assume that it is indeed his.
So what does it tell us? That he is pretty worried about being spied on, that’s why he took the extra security step to shut down any prying eyes smart enough to gain control of the camera.
Given that Zuckerberg is one of the highest-profile security targets in the world, his paranoia about his security is understandable.
There have been various cases where hackers have taken control of the webcams and used them as ways of spying on and then extracting money from people. So just with a piece of tape, Zuckerberg might have rendered potential hackers’ efforts useless. There is no way anyone can hack your webcam when the image is physically blocked out, right?
And this useful hack is something we can really learn from him. That said, Zuckerberg isn’t the only one to have done this. Amidst security and privacy concerns, this is a trend really catching up. Even experts advise that you should cover your cameras so that it prevents hackers from watching or capturing your live visual feeds.
In April, FBI Director James Comey said he uses a tape to cover his laptop webcam in order to mitigate the danger of secret surveillance.
So, may be copying Zuckerberg wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. What’s the harm, really? Oh and BTW congrats Instagram!