【2023 Archives】

Not too long ago Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg did it023 Archives and now the pope is doing it.

Covering up your webcam with a little strip of tape is the new hip thing -- at least if you're trying to avoid the peering eyes of hackers.

A photo circulating Twitter shows Pope Francis getting in on the trend. He's seen looking over his personal iPad, with a circular piece of tape carefully placed over the webcam.

The photo -- originally shot by the Vatican newspaper a year ago -- is just going viral now, after it was tweeted out by security researcher Collin Anderson on Tuesday.

Sticker on the front-facing camera of the iPad.
Pope Francis' opsec: 👍 pic.twitter.com/pgBab65lJP

— Collin Anderson (@CDA) January 4, 2017

As it made the rounds on Twitter, some users grew obsessed with finding out what that tiny white sticker with a red symbol on it really was. (The most plausible theory: It's the coat of arms for the Holy See and Vatican City State.)

@CDA @44 shit pic.twitter.com/poWULH5UId

— Todd Sherman (@tdd) January 4, 2017

.@CDA It's a nice touch that Vatican IT provides a branded sticker for this bearing the coat of arms of the Holy See. #pope #ipad pic.twitter.com/dpdPr4S2wM

— David W. Robinson (@jdormansteele) January 5, 2017

While it might seem a little intense, a set of creepy eyes sitting on the other end of that tiny webcam is a very real possibility. And it can happen in a number of ways. Internet-connected webcams can be hacked by those who find their way onto your wi-fi network. Meanwhile, a computer-connected webcam -- like that tiny black circle sitting right above your laptop screen -- can also be controlled by hackers, as previously explained by Mashable.

"Hackers can access these cameras through malware," Mashable's Kellen Beck wrote. "If you accidentally click a bad link or download the wrong file, that malware could contain executable code to turn on your webcam and send that video feed to a website or save it somewhere else."

Looks like the pope knows his stuff.