OIn webcam surveillance.

Perhaps you are putting too much faith in the manufacturer, I would suspect the I/O port driving the LED is independent from reading data from the image sensor, so you're at the mercy of the USB driver ...

My Dell notebook PC runs linux Mint and only lights up the LED when the camera is active. However, there is no need to trust the software as it has a mechanical shutter over the camera lens.

John

Just put tape over it. OK ? :-)

I can't see that that makes any sense.

There is only one 'I/O port' and that is the USB socket Which is serial data.

The LED is simply wired across the power supply that drives the camera: if the camera is on so is the LED.

Teh sole purpose of the LED is security: there is no reason to make it 'independent'

I see a vaguely worded threat from a company selling security. They can f*ck off as well. There is no way to 'reflash' a USB webcam. at least not mine

I'm talking about I/O from the PoV of the µP inside the webcam.

There's also very likely an extra USB "endpoint" within the webcam, hidden until some sequence of events, but once enabled it allows re-flashing the firmware, or running in a test mode.

I doubt it, it will be controlled by firmware, otherwise every time you "turned off" the webcam, you'd have to unplug and re-plug it to start using tgw camera again.

For a genuine manufacturer, yes, you'd hope there was a direct link, but surely you can see how a less scrupulous (or diligent) manufacturer could allow the LED to provide the *illusion* of security?

There are no firmware upgrades available for that model nor any way to implement them

The whole camera is 'controlled by firmware' but my point is that the firmware switches the camera and microphone on , puts power to the modules and lights the LED which is running off the same power rails that the camera and mic are.

Armchair security experts are always finding edge cases where there

The world is full of bullshit and 'could's', a point used by those proselytising for climate change using the bogus 'precautionary' principle which means that all risk no matter how impossible is to be avoided at all costs, so no one should ever be allowed to drive a car, won a chain saw, eat meat, own a carving knife etc. etc.

And you know all of this, how?

"Logitech Webcam C170

So there is a firmware mechanism ...

1. Because I looked at the manufactures data
2. Because I am an electronics/software engineer and I know 'how stuff works'.
3. Because others asked the question before.
4. Because that is the cheapest lowest component count way to do it

Doesn't exist on that site

No. There is not