All the MacBook Air computers come with a good HD webcam and a microphone. We can use these webcam and microphone combination for using video conferencing apps like FaceTime or Skype. But if your computer is infected by spyware or some other malware, then the same webcam can be used to spy on you. It depends on the malware, but some of these malicious programs can use your webcam to take your photographs or record your video along with the audio using the microphone and send them to a remote server. Situation becomes worse if you are using your MacBook Air in your bedroom and the cyber-criminals controlling the malware can see you changing or even sleeping.
The obvious solution to this problem is to install a good antivirus solution like ESET Cyber Security but you can also go one level up by using a proactive software like Oversight. This small app can inform you when your webcam or microphone becomes active. So if you are not using any software like Skype and Oversight still alerts you that your microphone has just been activated by a certain app (it displays the name of the process), then you know that it could be a suspicious activity related to a spyware or hacking incident.
Oversight keeps running in the background and monitors your microphone and the HD camera. It can also monitor external microphone or webcam, in addition to the built-inside microphone or webcam. Whenever any program tries to access your mic or camera, it will display an alert. When an alert is shown, you can deny the access or allow the access.
Oversight can be made to run automatically at startup. It can also be made to run in “headless” mode which basically hides all the icons from the status menu but still provides the same protection as in the normal mode. Oversight is a really helpful protection tool to keep you safe from any unauthorized use of your camera and microphone.
You can download Oversight for macOS from https://objective-see.com/.