FBI spying through a Web Camera

   - FBI has had secret webcam spying technology 'for several years'
   - Technique activates a webcam without turning on the recording light
   - The same malware has been used illegally by 'ratting' hackers

The US government has been able to secretly spy on its citizens through their computer’s webcams for several years, it has been revealed.

The FBI has long been able to activate a computer’s camera without triggering the ‘recording light’ to let the owner know the webcam is on, a former assistant director of its tech division has said.

Their usage of remote administration tools (RATs) comes to light as the world's most powerful technology firms call on Barack Obama to curb government spying on internet users.

Eye spy: The FBI can activate a computer¿s camera without letting the owner know it is recording, a former employee has revealed

The FBI have been able to use the spyware technology for years and have put it in place in terrorism cases or the most serious criminal investigations, Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, told the Washington Post.

Although the FBI reportedly uses 'ratting' sparingly, they have been rejected remotely activating video feeds on at least one occasion, in Houston, Texas, in December last year.

The FBI were investigating a suspect in a bank fraud case, but the presiding judge ruled that the risk of accidentally obtaining information of innocent people was too great.

Hacking into webcams using remote administration tools, also known as ‘ratting’, to spy on women and ‘enslave’ them by controlling their computers and secretly filming and taking pictures is not a new phenomenon but has grown in the past year.

Earlier this year, tech site Arstechnica revealed that one of the 'slave forums' had 23 million total posts, where ‘ratters’ boasted about their ‘slaves’ posting pictures, mainly of women, unaware that they were being watched.

The FBI team use the same technique as ratters, by infecting the computer with a malicious software – ‘malware – through phishing.

By sending an email with a link, which could be to a website, an image or a video, the user is tricked into downloading a small piece of software onto their machine.

Once installed, the malware allows the FBI to take control of the computer and the webcam at any time, working similarly to the system large corporations use to update software and fix IT problems.

Here's looking at you, kid: The malware is activated by emailing a link which tricks the computer user to download a spying software onto their machine

‘We have transitioned into a world where law enforcement is hacking into people’s computers, and we have never had public debate,’ Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union told the Post.

‘Judges are having to make up these powers as they go along.’

Earlier today, CEO’s of Apple, Facebook, Google, AOL, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo united to call on the US government to cease online spying on its citizens.

The open letter to the President and Congress reads: 'We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide.

'The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for change.

The rare show of unity by usually fierce competitors is seen as a reflection of the damage in public confidence inflicted by leaks from Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower.

Earlier this year he revealed how U.S. and British spy agencies were able to harvest huge amounts of data - including emails and search history - on millions of people by tapping into internet servers.