A Palestinian hacker who said he had breached Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile showed the page in 2013. CreditHazem Bader/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg Covers His Laptop Camera. You Should Consider It, Too.

International New York Times | 22 June 2016

The taped-over camera and microphone jack are usually a signal that someone is concerned, perhaps only vaguely, about hackers’ gaining access to his or her devices by using remote-access trojans — a process called “ratting.” (Remote access is not limited to ratters: According to a cache of National Security Agency documents leaked by Edward J. Snowden, at least two government-designed programs were devised totake over computer cameras and microphones.) ...

...Mr. Zuckerberg was taking simple precautions to protect himself from anyone who may try to gain remote access. The practice is fairly technologically simple: Hackers trick people into clicking on links or unfamiliar websites containing malware that allows them access to the devices.