Blog for discussion posts + replies for ARTH 3560 History of Photo WWI-present (Spring 2015)
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Photography and Surveillance: Webcam RATters
The webcam image photographic work of Cheryl Sourkes definitely
left me feeling unsettled and reminded me eerily of an article I found online a
couple of months ago. The article “Meet the men who spy on women through their
webcams” can be found at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet-the-men-who-spy-on-women-through-their-webcams/
and discusses the way in which hackers use a virus program called Remote
Administration Tool to not only execute commands on their victims’ computers,
but also to turn their webcam into a one-way surveillance camera. The creepiest part about these self-named “ratters”
is that they can infect computers and operate webcams without the user having
any idea that anything is occurring. The ratters are able to stealthily invade
the homes of their so-called “slaves” and watch them for hours on end- they
consider this a form of entertainment. The ease in which the hackers can
operate in secret as well as the user-friendly nature of the Remote
Administration Tool software really enable anyone with access to a computer the
ability to spy on anyone else who possesses a laptop with a webcam. While it
may be argued that the internet is a “public” place, and therefore any content
posted online is fair game to be viewed by anyone, anywhere, these “slaves” are
not posting anything online or even necessarily accessing the internet. Technology
has increase the extent to which people are able to spy on each other to such
an alarming magnitude that we are not even safe in our own homes. The Sourkes
images disturbed me because they seemed to fall in the same category as these
images and videos captured by “ratters” and Sourkes does not explain on her
website exactly where and how she obtained these images. This art just further
enforces the scary truth that anytime you use your computer equipped with a
webcam, anyone could be watching.
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