"Whenever a new application is installed on your phone or computer, you’re building a backdoor for hackers to have access to your online data."
https://www.bitvpn.net/blog/signs-of-camera-and-microphone-hacking-and-tips-to-stop-it/
"There are some spy programs that can even remotely activate the microphone on your device and record you. One of the most infamous of these is StealthGenie, a spyware app that behaves like a Trojan and supports iOS, Android and Blackberry. It can geolocate the device, listen to conversations, capture messages and images and even activate the microphone, tracking all your actions throughout the day."
https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/security/spy-smartphone-microphone/
"If a hacker gains access to your device, they may be able to turn your camera on and off, look directly through it, take photos with it, or even listen in on you using your device’s microphone. The good news (if you can call it that) is that modern devices use an indicator light or icon whenever the camera is active. If you see this light appear at random, when you know none of your trusted apps are using the camera, you might have a problem.
If a hacker breaks into your device, they’re probably looking for specific information, rather than to simply spy on you in general. In most cases, though, hackers aren’t targeting individuals. Instead, they go after security camera data held by big businesses — in one instance, giving them access to hundreds of hours of records from 150,000 security cameras in hospitals, warehouses and, jails."
https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2021/12/can-someone-really-spy-on-me-through-my-webcam-or-phone-camera/
"Not long ago, Edward Snowden proved that the NSA has the ability to break into your phone’s camera or microphone — even when it is turned off — and photograph the user, or record his or her conversations. What the NSA can do, a hacker can do. Exactly how likely is our phone to be susceptible to recording or photographing us while we’re unaware?"
https://www.psafe.com/en/blog/can-hackers-access-phones-camera-microphone/
"In a Black Hat talk titled “How to Build a SpyPhone,” Kevin McNamee, the Director of Alcatel-Lucent’s Kindsight Security Labs, demonstrated how to turn your iPhone or Android smartphone into a spy phone that could allow an attacker “to track the phone’s location, intercept phone calls and SMS messages, extract e-mail and contact lists, and activate the camera and microphone without being detected.” And unless you noticed the app asked for unusual permissions when installed, then you’d never be the wiser and never know your phone was connected to a command-and-control server.
One of the first things the malicious and stealthy app does is turn down the phone’s volume so you don’t hear the camera secretly snapping photos. An attacker could also remotely activate the microphone, which would allow the recording of everything from business meetings to adventures in the bedroom. Although an iPhone shows a preview of videos or pictures, McNamee made the preview show up as only one pixel so no Apple fans would notice it."
https://www.csoonline.com/article/546206/black-hat-it-s-not-tricky-for-hackers-to-turn-your-phone-into-a-spyphone.html
"As said earlier, you can hack someone’s phone camera, and there are different ways to do it. One of the ways is by hacking someone’s camera through an IP Webcam. As today’s smartphone cameras are advanced, they are not only used to take photos or videos, but you can also use them to spy on someone."
https://www.cravingtech.com/how-to-hack-into-someones-phone-camera.html
"RICHMOND, Va. — As a member of the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Angus King has reason to worry about hackers. At a briefing by security staff this year, he said he got some advice on how to help keep his cellphone secure.
Step One: Turn off phone.
Step Two: Turn it back on."
"That’s it. At a time of widespread digital insecurity, it turns out that the oldest and simplest computer fix there is – turning a device off then back on again – can thwart hackers from stealing information from smartphones.
Regularly rebooting phones won’t stop the army of cybercriminals or spy-for-hire firms that have sowed chaos and doubt about the ability to keep any information safe and private in our digital lives. But it can make even the most sophisticated hackers work harder to maintain access and steal data from a phone."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/07/28/turn-off-turn-on-simple-trick-stopping-phone-hackers/5404110001/