Most of us have a camera built into our phone, tablet, laptop, or a desktop webcam we use for work, study or virtual socializing. Unfortunately, this privilege can leave us vulnerable to an online attack known as camfecting.

This is when hackers take control of your webcam remotely. They do this by disabling the “on” light which usually indicates the camera is active – so victims are none the wiser.

When your laptop is turned off its webcam can’t be activated. However, many of us keep our laptops in hibernation or sleep mode (which are different). In this case, the device can be woken by a cybercriminal, and the camera turned on. Even Mark Zuckerberg has admitted he covers his webcam and masks his microphone.