Webcam Protection

This section contains information about how to prevent people from spying on you via webcam.

Available only in Kaspersky Standard, Kaspersky Plus, and Kaspersky Premium.

About applications' access to the webcam

The Webcam Protection component is designed to protect your webcam against unauthorized access. If Webcam Protection is enabled and the Block access to webcam for all applications check box is selected, the Kaspersky application blocks access to the webcam for all applications and notifies you that access has been blocked.

If the Block access to webcam for all applications check box is cleared, the Kaspersky application monitors application access to the webcam depending on the trust group of the application that requests access. The Kaspersky application blocks access to the webcam for applications that have been included in the High Restricted or Untrusted groups.

In the Intrusion Prevention settings window, you can allow access to the webcam for applications included in the High Restricted and Untrusted groups. If an application from the Low Restricted trust group attempts to connect to the webcam, the Kaspersky application displays a notification and prompts you to decide whether to provide that application with access to the webcam.

If a webcam access attempt is made by an application that is denied access by default, the Kaspersky application shows a notification. The notification shows information to the effect that an application installed on the computer (such as Skype) is currently receiving video data from the webcam. In the notification drop-down list, you can block the application from accessing the webcam or proceed to configure the settings of application access to the webcam. This notification is not displayed if applications are already running in full-screen mode on your computer.

In the drop-down list of the notification about video data received by the application, you can also choose to hide notifications or proceed to configure notification display settings.

By default, the Kaspersky application allows webcam access to applications that require your permission if the application's GUI is still being loaded, unloaded, or not responding, and you cannot allow access manually.

Webcam access protection functionality has the following features and limitations:

• The Kaspersky application controls video and still images derived from processing of webcam data.
• The Kaspersky application controls the audio signal if it is part of the video stream coming from the webcam.
• The Kaspersky application controls only webcams connected via USB or IEEE1394 that are displayed in Windows Device Manager as Imaging Devices.

Click this link to view the list of supported webcams.

To activate protection against unauthorized access to the webcam, the Intrusion Prevention component must be enabled.

Webcam Protection has limitations if the application was installed in Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary Update (RedStone 1).

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How to change settings of application access to the webcam

To change settings of application access to the webcam:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Click in the lower part of the main window.

   The Settings window opens.

3. In the Privacy settings section, select the Webcam Protection component.
4. Configure the settings of application access to the webcam of your computer:
   • To block all applications from accessing the webcam, select the Block access to webcam for all applications check box.
   • To receive notifications when the webcam is used by an application that is allowed to do so, select the Show notification when the webcam is in use by an application for which webcam access is allowed check box.

How to allow application access to the webcam

To allow application access to the webcam:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Select the Security section.
3. In the Intrusion Prevention section, click the Manage applications button.

   This opens the Manage applications window.

4. Double-click the name of the application to open the Application rules window.
5. In the Application rules window, go to the Rights tab.
6. In the list of rights categories, select Operating system modification → Suspicious modifications in the operating system → Access webcam.
7. In the Action column, click the icon to open the context menu and select Allow.
8. Click the Save button.

The application will be allowed access to the webcam if the Block access to webcam for all applications check box is cleared.

If the Block access to webcam for all applications check box is selected, the Kaspersky application blocks application access to the webcam regardless of the trust group and manually configured permissions.