What application is trying to access my mic (win10)?

[Nooby]

Hi all,

Recently I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 pro on my laptop.

After I finished updating windows, I installed only the Lenovo update software, an external FW and a few popular tools which have been downloaded from trustworthy websites.

However, while I was downloading (or installing) CCleaner I received a notification that windows has blocked an app from accessing my microphone (I didn’t turn off the mic, but just disabled all the apps on the default list from accessing it).

To the best of my knowledge, I did not use any application that might want to access my mic. Therefore, my questions are - i) was my computer hacked/infected with a malware or any kind of a malicious software? and ii) is there a way to see what applications have been trying to access my mic/camera ?

Thanks in advance!

Nooby

 

[oldschool]

I'm going to guess it's CCleaner which prompted the flag from Windows ... but I'm only guessing.

 

[brambedkar59]

I don't know how to check after the application has stopped using mic. But if an app is using microphone on Win 10, it shows an mic icon in the taskbar (on the right side). Hovering the mouse cursor over it will tell you what app is using it currently.

 

[Syafiq]

Hmm.. I think he was just wondering what apps that currently using his mic as he just disabled mic access for apps. I think that was cortana that trying to access to the mic, but it was blocked.

 

[Nooby]

I'm going to guess it's CCleaner which prompted the flag from Windows ... but I'm only guessing.

Thanks for your response! Perhaps, although I used it in the past on Windows 10 and never had any indication that it was trying to access my microphone (but I understand that it does not mean that the new version and the website are still trustworthy).

I don't know how to check after the application has stopped using mic. But if an app is using microphone on Windows 10, it shows an mic icon in the taskbar (on the right side). Hovering the mouse cursor over it will tell you what app is using it currently.
View attachment 218757

Thanks for your response and explanation! I found that method online, but in my case I want to see a log of all the apps that tried to access my mic/camera (the microphone icon did not show up in the task bar because the app was blocked from accessing the mic).

Hmm.. I think he was just wondering what apps that currently using his mic as he just disabled mic access for apps. I think that was cortana that trying to access to the mic, but it was blocked.

Thanks for your reply! It is my understanding that Cortana is not active on my pc (when I go to control panel --> Contana, it says that there is no language that matches the market for my device ... which means Contana is not running, unless I don't understand how it works).

Should I be worried ? or just assume that some Window's service\Contana suddenly decided to access my mic..?

By the way, I scanned my PC with Windows defender, Malwarebytes and Spybot S&D and no threats were found.

However, I still would like to find a way to see all the apps that were trying to access my mic/camera or that actually gained access to my camera/mic (I read somewhere that Windows does not provide a hermetic protection in this regard and that the blocking mechanism can be bypassed).

Thanks again.

 

[brambedkar59]

Should I be worried ? or just assume that some Window's service\Contana suddenly decided to access my mic..?

By the way, I scanned my PC with Windows defender, Malwarebytes and Spybot S&D and no threats were found.

As it's a fresh install of Win 10 and you have downloaded apps from trustworthy websites I am pretty sure the system is clean. I remember getting the same notifications on my Win 10 install. I think you are worrying too much.
Enjoy your fresh Win 10 install and have a good day

 

[oldschool]

As it's a fresh install of Windows 10 and you have downloaded apps from trustworthy websites I am pretty sure the system is clean. I remember getting the same notifications on my Windows 10 install. I think you are worrying too much.
Enjoy your fresh Windows 10 install and have a good day

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Nooby]

As it's a fresh install of Windows 10 and you have downloaded apps from trustworthy websites I am pretty sure the system is clean. I remember getting the same notifications on my Windows 10 install. I think you are worrying too much.
Enjoy your fresh Windows 10 install and have a good day

Thanks for your reply, I guess you are right Have a great day!

I couldn't agree more.

Thanks!