Patent Publication Number: US-2020302060-A1

Title: Enabling access to capturing devices by basic input and output systems (bios)

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     User devices, such as laptops and tablets, comprise devices to capture images, videos, and audio inputs. For example, a built-in camera of a computing system, such as webcam of a laptop, enables users to capture pictures or videos. In another example, a built-in microphone of the computing system allows users to record audio inputs. 
     Other than a user directly accessing the camera or microphone of the computing system, applications running on the computing system may also access the camera or microphone. For example, an application that provides video conferencing functionality to the user, when initiated, may activate the camera of the computing system. Simultaneously, the application also accesses the microphone of the computing device, which is generally used in conjunction with the camera, to capture audio inputs. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES 
       The following detailed description references the drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a computing device, in accordance with an example implementation of the present subject matter; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a computing device, in accordance with another example implementation of the present subject matter; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a BIOS of a computing device, in accordance with an example implementation of the present subject matter; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a method for authorizing access to a capturing device of a computing device, according to an example of the present subject matter; 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate a method for authorizing access to a capturing device of a computing device, according to another example of the present subject matter; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a computing environment, according to an example implementation of the present subject matter. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Computing devices, such as desktops, laptops, and tablets, generally include a camera and a microphone. An application running on a computing device may access the camera or microphone of the computing system to provide various functionalities. For instance, a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) application running on the computing device may access the microphone to allow a user to make a VOIP call; a social media application may access the camera for a user to capture and upload an image; and a video calling application may access the camera as well as the microphone for the user to participate in a video call. When such an application is launched by the user, the application initiates access to the camera, the microphone, or both to start capturing images, videos, or audio, as the case may be. 
     Generally, a computing device also connects to the internet, making it vulnerable to malware applications that may be installed on the computing device by malicious users who may then access the camera or microphone through the malware applications. Such an unauthorized access, without a user&#39;s knowledge, puts his privacy at stake. 
     In some cases, the computing device may comprise an LED indicator that indicates to the user that the camera is in use. However, generally, the malicious user may also interfere with the operating system (OS) of the computing device to control the LED indicator, such that the LED indicator does not indicate switching ON of the camera, even when the camera is switched ON. 
     Thus, generally, once the OS of the computing device is compromised, the camera and the microphone may be vulnerable to unauthorized accesses. 
     According to an example implementation of the present subject matter, techniques for authorizing access to a microphone or camera, referred to as a capturing device, of a computing device are described. The example methods and systems for authorizing the access provide for prevention of an access attempted without the knowledge of the user. 
     In an example implementation, when an application executing on the computing device requests access to the capturing device, the Basic Input and Output device (BIOS) of the computing device is notified. The BIOS then obtains an authentication parameter from a user to authorize the request to access the capturing device. The application is allowed to access the capturing device once the BIOS has verified the authentication parameter. 
     In an example, the authentication parameter, such as a fingerprint of the user or a password received from the user, is compared with an authorized authentication parameter stored in a secure memory component accessible to the BIOS to verify the authentication parameter. Verification of the authentication parameter by the BIOS to authorize the access to the capturing device prevents a malware application or a compromised OS from accessing the capturing device. 
     The above techniques are further described with reference to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 6 . It should be noted that the description and the Figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter along with examples described herein and should not be construed as a limitation to the present subject matter. It is thus understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and implementations of the present subject matter, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof. 
       FIG. 1  shows an example computing device  100 , according to an example implementation of the present subject matter. Examples of the computing device  100  include, but are not limited to, electronic device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDAs), and a tablet that may include or may be interfaced with capturing device(s)  102 . A capturing device  102  is a device to capture image, video, or audio inputs and includes, for example, a camera  102 - 1  and/or a microphone  102 - 2 . The camera  102 - 1  and/or the microphone  102 - 2 , interchangeably referred to as the capturing device  102 , may be of various types. 
     One example of the capturing device  102  may be a camera  102 - 2  that is inbuilt or integrated into the computing device  100 , such as a webcam. A webcam may be a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera in an example. Although not shown, in an example, the capturing device  102  also includes any external camera coupled to the computing device  100 , such as an external webcam coupled to the computing device  100  through a universal serial bus (USB). Examples of the capturing device also include various internal or external microphones operable in conjunction with the computing device  100 . 
     The computing device  100 , among other things, includes processor(s)  104 . The processor(s)  104  may be implemented as microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor(s)  104  is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). 
     A processor  104  hosts an operating system (OS)  106  of the computing device  100 . The OS  106  is a set of instructions that manages the hardware and software of the computing device  100  to enable the computing device  100  to provide various services to the users. In an example, the OS  106  executes application(s)  108  to provide various services to the user. An application  108  may be understood as a set of instructions to enable a functionality in the computing device  100 . The application  108  may be either native to the OS  106  or may be a third-party application  108  installed on the OS  106 . Examples of the application  108  include, but are not limited to, a VOIP application, video conferencing application, or a voice recorder application which can be executed by the OS  106  to provide functionalities, such as internet protocol (IP) based calling, video conferencing, and voice recording, respectively. The application  108 , as mentioned above, may access the capturing device  102  to provide the corresponding functionalities. 
     The computing device  100  also includes a basic input and output system (BIOS)  110 . The BIOS  110  performs hardware initialization to prepare the computing device  100  for use when the computing device  100  is booted up. The BIOS  110  also provides an interface between the input/output devices, storage drives, etc. (not shown) of the computing device  100  and the OS  106  during the boot up process. However, once the OS  106  is initialized, the OS  106  can communicate with the input/output devices directly. Examples of input/output devices include, but are not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, display, and the capturing device  102 . To interface the input/output devices to the OS  106 , an accessibility of each of the input/output devices may be defined in the BIOS  110 . If an input/output device is defined to be disabled in the BIOS  110 , the input/output device is not visible to the OS  106  and hence is not operable by the OS  106 . In other words, an input/output device is accessible for the OS  106  upon being enabled by the BIOS  110 . 
     In accordance with an example implementation of the present subject matter, by default, the BIOS  110  disables access of the capturing device  102  to the OS  106 . In operation, when an application  108  requests access to the capturing device  102 , an authentication module  112  of the BIOS  110  initiates a process to authorize the access. To authorize the access to the capturing device  102 , the authentication module  112  obtains an authentication parameter and enables the application  108  to access the capturing device based on a verification of the authentication parameter. 
     Failing authorization of the access by the BIOS  110 , the access to the capturing device  102  by the application  108  continues to remain disabled. Authorization of the access to the capturing device  102  by the BIOS  110  provides for enhanced security in the computing device  100 . Accordingly, unauthorized accesses by malware applications are prevented. Details relating to the process of authorizing the access implemented by the BIOS  110  are explained with reference to description of  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the computing device  100 , in accordance with another example implementation of the present subject matter. In an example implementation, the computing device  100  authentications the application  108  to access the capturing device  102 . 
     As described earlier, the computing device  100  comprises the processor  104  to execute the OS  106 , and as explained above, the processor  104  also executes the BIOS  110  to initialize OS  106 . 
     The functions of the various elements shown in the Figures, including any functional blocks labelled as “processor(s)”, may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), non-volatile storage. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. 
     In the example implementation depicted in  FIG. 2 , the OS  106  of the computing device  102  resides in a system memory  202  and the BIOS  110  resides in a BIOS memory  204 . However, other example implementations with the OS  106  and the BIOS  110  residing in the same memory component are also possible. The system memory  202  may include any computer-readable medium including, for example, volatile memory (e.g., RAM), and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., EPROM, flash memory, etc.). The BIOS memory  204  may be a ROM or a flash memory device addressable by the processor  104  at reset. 
     After a reset, the processor  104  performs a boot-up process for the OS  106  using the BIOS  110  as explained above. Once initialized, the OS  106  takes control of the various input/output devices of the computing device  100 . Accordingly, the computing device  100  may also comprise an I/O interface  206  which enables the OS  106  to interface with the input/output devices. The I/O interface  206  may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces that allow the OS  106  to interact with the I/O devices. The I/O interface  206  also allows the OS  106  to interface with the capturing device  102 . 
     In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the BIOS  110  authorizes the OS&#39;s  106  access to the capturing device  102  for preventing unauthorized capture of audio or visual inputs, for example, due to the OS  106  being compromised. 
     In an example, by default, the BIOS  110  disables access of the capturing device  102  by the OS. Accordingly, when the OS  106  is initialized after a reset, the control of the capturing device  102  is not assumed by the OS  106 , and thus, no application  108  can directly access the capturing device  102 . In an example, while maintaining the accessibility of the capturing device  102  by the OS  106  as ‘disabled’, the BIOS  110  may indicate the capturing device  102  to be available to the OS  106 . In an example, the BIOS  110  may emulate the capturing device  102  that has been disabled to the OS  106 . Accordingly, the OS  106  may not be able to communicate with the capturing device  102  that has been disabled but may detect the capturing device  102  to be present. 
     When an application  108 , such as a video call application  108 , which is to access the capturing device  102  for its operation, is launched, the application  108  requests the OS  106  provide access, for example, by way of a function call that the application  108  may make to the OS  106 . 
     In accordance with an example implementation of the present subject matter, an access detection module  208  is implemented in the OS  106  to detect the request of the application  108  to access the capturing device  102 . In an example, the access detection module  208  may register the function call to the OS  106  made by the application  108 . Upon detecting the request to access the capturing device  102 , the access detection module  208  notifies the BIOS  110  of the computing device  100 . 
     Once the BIOS  110  is notified of the request of the application  108 , in an example, a notification module  210  of the BIOS  110  generates a notification to notify a user of the request to access the capturing device  102 . Such a notification allows the user to be aware of the capturing device  102  recording the audio or visual inputs. The notification may be displayed on a display  212  of the computing device  100 . For the purpose, the notification module  210  of the BIOS  110  may communicate with the display  212  through the I/O interface  206 . 
     Also, once the BIOS  110  is notified of the request of the application  108 , in an example, the authentication module  112  is triggered to obtain the authentication parameter. In an example implementation, the authentication module  112  verifies the obtained authentication parameter based on an authorized authentication parameter stored in a secure memory component  214  of the computing device  100  accessible to the BIOS  110 . Based on the obtained authentication parameter being verified, the application  108  is enabled to access the capturing device  102 . Although not depicted in the example implementation illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the secure memory component  214  of the computing device  100  may be located in the BIOS memory  204  in one example. 
     In an example implementation, the authentication parameter may be a fingerprint of the user. Accordingly, the computing device  100  may include a fingerprint unit  216  coupled to the BIOS  110 . For example, based on the notification regarding the request to access the capturing device  102  being displayed on the display  212 , the user may provide his fingerprint input to the fingerprint unit  216 . The authentication module  112  obtains the fingerprint input and verifies the same based on the process explained below in conjunction with  FIG. 3  for authorizing the access. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates the BIOS  110  according to an example illustration of the present subject matter. As explained previously, when an application  108  requests access to the capturing device, the BIOS  110  is notified of the same. The notification regarding an application&#39;s request to access the capturing device  102  is received by the notification module  210  of the BIOS  110  that in turn notifies the user. The notification regarding an application&#39;s  108  request also triggers the authentication module  112  to authorize the access. 
     Accordingly, in one example, the authentication module  112  causes the notification module  210  to generate a prompt for the user to input the authentication parameter. The prompt may indicate to a user, an authentication parameter that the user may provide. For instance, the prompt may suggest that the user input a password or provide his fingerprint. In an example, the prompt may be displayed on the display  212  of the computing device  100 . In another example, another output device, such as a speaker of the computing device  100 , may provide the prompt. Accordingly, the notification module  210  may cause output of a preconfigured message, such as ‘enter password’ or ‘enter fingerprint’ on an output device (not shown) of the computing device  100 . 
     The authentication parameter, provided by the user in response to the prompt, is received by a capturing module  302  of the BIOS  110 . The capturing module  302  may include various types of capturing modules  302  corresponding to the different types of authentication parameters that may be used for authorizing access to the capturing device  102 . In an example, as mentioned above, a fingerprint of the user may be an authentication parameter. Accordingly, a fingerprint capturing module  304  may be implemented within the capturing module  102 . In another example in which the authentication parameter is a password, the capturing modules  302  may include a keyboard input capturing module  306 . As will be understood, either the fingerprint capturing module  304 , the keyboard input capturing module  306  or both may be implemented in the BIOS  110  depending on the authentication parameters that may be acceptable by the computing device  100  for authorizing access to the capturing device  102 . 
     Thus, in an example, if a fingerprint is provided by the user as an authentication parameter, the fingerprint capturing module  304  receives the fingerprint of the user. In another example scenario where the computing device  100  is to authorize access to the capturing device  102  based on authentication parameters that are passwords, a password entered by the user is captured by the keyboard input capturing module  306 . Thereafter, the authentication parameter, i.e., the fingerprint or the password captured by the fingerprint capturing module  304  or the keyboard input capturing module  306 , or both, as the case may be, is provided to the authentication module  112  that verifies the authentication parameter provided by the user. 
     In an example, the authentication module  112  verifies the authentication parameter based on an authorized authentication parameter. The authorized authentication parameter may be stored in the BIOS memory  204  or the secure memory component  214  accessible to the BIOS  110 , for instance. The authentication module  112  may compare the authentication parameter to the authorised authentication parameter stored in the secure memory component  214  for the verification. 
     Accordingly, in various example implementations of the present subject matter, the BIOS  110  may perform a registration process to register an authorised authentication parameter corresponding to a user of the computing device  100 . For registering the authorised authentication parameter, the BIOS  110  may receive a user input corresponding to the authorised authentication parameter from the user and store the same in the secure memory component  214 . 
     In an example, a user can register a password with the BIOS  110 . For registering a password, the user provides the password, for example, via the keyboard (not shown), which is received and saved by the BIOS  110  as the authorised authentication parameter for use during authorization process. For instance, the authorised authentication parameter may be saved in the secure memory component  214 . 
     Similarly, a fingerprint may also be registered with the BIOS  110  as the authorised authentication parameter. Registration of the fingerprint may involve the use of the previously mentioned fingerprint unit  216  coupled to the BIOS  110 . During registration, the user may provide his fingerprint input to the fingerprint unit  216 , for example, through a fingerprint scanner (not shown) of the fingerprint unit  216 . The fingerprint input, thus registered, may be saved, for example, in the secure memory component  214 . During authorization process, the BIOS  110  uses this saved fingerprint input to verify the fingerprint provided by the user. In an example, fingerprint inputs of more than one finger may be registered. 
     In yet another example implementation of the present subject matter, one of the types of authentication parameters that may be used by the computing device  100  for authorizing access to the capturing device  102  may be BIOS-generated authentication parameters. In such example implementations, when an application  108  requests access to the capturing device  102 , the BIOS  110  may generate an authentication parameter that may be used for authorizing the access to the capturing device  102 . Accordingly, in an example, the BIOS  110  comprises an authentication parameter generator  308  that generates the authentication parameter. In an example, the authentication parameter generator  308  incorporated in the BIOS  110 , may be a random sequence generator that generates a sequence of characters, digits, or symbols. 
     The authentication parameter, i.e., the random sequence of characters, digits, or symbols, generated by the BIOS  110  may be displayed on the display  212 . For the purpose, the authentication parameter generator  308  may cause the notification module  210  to interface with the display  110 . Consequently, in example implementations where the BIOS-generated authentication parameters may be used by the computing device  100  for authorizing access to the capturing device  102 , the prompt may also comprise the authentication parameter generated by the BIOS  110 . The user may input the displayed authentication parameter, for example, by typing the same on a keyboard of the computing device  100 . Further, in example implementations where the BIOS-generated authentication parameters may be used, the various types of capturing modules  302  explained above may include a BIOS-generated parameter capturing module  310 . 
     Accordingly, in operation, in an example implementation when the prompt comprising a BIOS-generated authentication parameter is generated and displayed by the BIOS  110 , the user may provide the same as an authentication parameter. Thereupon, the authentication parameter entered by the user is captured by the BIOS-generated parameter capturing module  310  and is provided to the authentication module  112  for verification. 
     The authentication module  112  verifies if the authentication parameter entered by the user is same as that generated by the authentication parameter generator. If the authentication parameter entered by the user matches the BIOS-generated authentication parameter, the authorization process is successful and the authentication module  112  allows the application to access the capturing device  102  of the computing device  100 . 
     Similarly, in another example implementation where the BIOS-generated authentication parameters may be used for authorizing access to the capturing device  102 , the authentication parameter may comprise a list of characters, symbols, images and so on. The BIOS  110  may generate and display the list of characters, symbols, or images. The user may be prompted to select, for example, using a mouse or a joystick of the computing device  100 , one of the displayed characters, symbols, or images having a certain feature and upon successful selection by the user, the access to the capturing device may be enabled. To illustrate with an example, the BIOS-generated authentication parameter may be an image comprising several circles of various colours. For the authentication, the user may be prompted to hover a mouse of the computing device  100  over a ‘blue’ coloured circle from amongst the several circles displayed. 
     In an example implementation of the present subject matter, when an application  108  terminates an ongoing session of access to the capturing device  102 , the application  108  indicates the same to the OS  106 . The access detection module  208  of the OS  106  detects the termination of access and notifies the BIOS  110 . The BIOS  110  thereafter disables the access of the OS  106  to the capturing device  102 . 
     As apparent from the foregoing description of the present subject matter, applications  108  residing on the OS  106  of the computing device  100  are disallowed to access the capturing device  102  without the BIOS  110  authorizing the access. For example, when a malware application residing in the OS  106  of the computing device  102  requests access to the capturing device  102 , the BIOS  110  notifies the user of the request while continuing to maintain the accessibility of the capturing device  102  by the OS  106  as ‘disabled’, by default. When the user knows that the request is not raised further to an action taken by him, the user may not provide the authentication parameter, and thus, the request to access is not authorized, thus denying the malware application the access to the capturing device  102 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a method  400  for authorization of an access to a capturing device of a computing device, according to an example implementation of the present subject matter. Similarly,  FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate a method  500  for authorizing access to a capturing device of a computing device, according to another example implementation of the present subject matter. Although the methods  400  and  500  may be implemented in a variety of electronic devices, for the ease of explanation, the present description of the example methods  400  and  500  to authorize access to a capturing device is provided in reference to the above-described computing device  100 . 
     The order in which the methods  400  and  500  are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined in any order to implement the methods  400  and  500 , or an alternative method. Furthermore, the methods  400  and  500  may be implemented by processor(s) or computing device(s) through any suitable hardware, non-transitory machine readable instructions, or combination thereof. 
     It may be understood that blocks of the methods  400  and  500  may be performed by programmed computing devices. The blocks of the methods  400  and  500  may be executed based on instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium, as will be readily understood. The non-transitory computer readable medium may include, for example, digital memories, magnetic storage media, such as magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storage media. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , at block  402 , a request to access the capturing device  102  is generated by the OS  106  of the computing device  100 . For example, the application  108  running on the OS  106  may generate the request to access the capturing device  102  to provide a functionality, such as audio conferencing or video conferencing. 
     At block  404 , based on the request generated at block  402 , an authentication parameter to authorize the request to access the capturing device  102  is obtained by the BIOS  110  of the computing device  100 . As explained above, the authorization parameter may be a password, fingerprint, and random sequence of digits/characters. 
     At block  406 , the obtained authentication parameter is verified by the BIOS  110 . Based on a successful verification of the authentication parameter, the capturing device  102  is enabled by the BIOS. Upon enabling the capturing device, the application  108  may access the capturing device  102 . 
     In an example, after the application  108  is allowed a session of access to the capturing device  102 , for a duration that the session is ongoing, the BIOS  110  may continue to indicate to the user that the capturing device  102  is enabled. For instance, the indication may be a message displayed on the display  212  for the duration that the session is ongoing. In an example, the message may be displayed intermittently during the ongoing session. In an example, the indication may be an audio notification, such a ‘beep’ sound that may be generated by the BIOS  110  periodically during the ongoing session. 
     In an example, the BIOS  110  may also provide an option to disable the capturing device  102  during an ongoing session. In an example, the BIOS  110  may allow a capturing device  102  that was enabled at the start of the session to be disabled while the session may continue. For instance, a user may disable the camera  102 - 1  during a video call session and may continue the session as a voice call with the microphone  102 - 1  alone being enabled. 
     In an example implementation, the indication generated by the BIOS  110  to indicate that the capturing device  102  is enabled during a session, may present the user with the option to disable the capturing device  102 . Accordingly, in an example implementation, the indication, when displayed as a message on the display  212 , may provide a button that the user may activate, for example, using a mouse or a keyboard of the computing device  100  to disable the capturing device  102 . 
     With the BIOS  110  providing an indication of a capturing device  102  being enabled during a session that had been authorized, situations where another session may be initiated by a malware application upon the user disabling the capturing device  102  during the session may be prevented. In an eventuality that the user disables the capturing device  102  during the session, yet the BIOS  110  continues to indicate that capturing device  102  is enabled, the user may be made aware of the capturing device  102  being used. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5A and 5B  that illustrate a method  500  for authorizing access to the capturing device  102 , according to an example implementation, at block  502 , the BIOS  110  disables the access to the capturing device  102 , by default. In other words, the capturing device  102  is disabled at all times except when being used by an application. As explained earlier, the BIOS  110  interfaces the input/output devices of the computing device  100  to the OS  106  during initialization of the OS  106  after a reset. The OS  106  may not be able to access an input/output device of the computing device  100 , for example, the capturing device  102 , if set to be disabled by the BIOS  110 . 
     In an example, the BIOS  110  may disallow the OS  106  to access the capturing device  102 , however, may indicate the capturing device  102  to be available to the OS  106 , for example, by emulating the capturing device  102  that has been disabled to the OS  106 . 
     At block  504 , the application  108  running on the OS  106  of the computing device  100  may request access to the capturing device  102 . The request is registered by the access detection module  208  of the OS  106  at block  506 . In an example, the access detection module  208  may register a function call that the application  108  may make to the OS  106  to request access to the capturing device  102 . 
     In an example implementation, as mentioned previously, the BIOS  110  may disable access of the capturing device  102  to the OS  106  and the capturing device  102  may not be visible to the OS  106 . In such cases, in response the request to access to the capturing device  102 , the OS  106  may generate a message indicative of the same. Accordingly, a message, such as ‘camera not found’ or ‘microphone disabled’ may be displayed on the display  212  of the computing device  100 . In an example, such messages may not be displayed due to BIOS  110  emulating the capturing device  102  to the OS  106 . 
     At block  508 , the access detection module  208  notifies the BIOS  110  of the request to access to the capturing device  102 . Based on the notification from the access detection module  208 , at block  510 , the BIOS  110  in turn notifies the user of the request. Example techniques of notifying the user include, but are not restricted to, generating an audio alert or a visual alert by the BIOS  110 . Thus, the user is notified at every instance an application  108  requests access to the capturing device  102 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5B , at block  512 , the BIOS  110  generates a prompt for obtaining the authentication parameter. As explained earlier, in an example, the authentication parameter may be a password or fingerprint. Thus, the prompt may request the user to enter the password or fingerprint. Also, in an example, the authentication parameter may be a BIOS-generated authentication parameter. Accordingly, in an example, generation of the prompt at block  512  may include generating and displaying the authentication parameter on the display device  212  of the computing device  100 . 
     The authentication parameter is received by the BIOS  110  in response to the prompt, at block  514 . Thereafter, at  516 , the BIOS  110  verifies if the authentication parameter matches with an authorised authentication parameter. The authorised authentication parameter may be stored in the BIOS memory  204  and may not be readable by the OS  106 . In an example, the authorised authentication parameter may be stored in the secure memory component  214 . 
     If the determination made at block  516  is affirmative, the method  500  shifts to block  518 , where the BIOS  110  enables the capturing device  102  such that the application  108  can access the capturing device  102 . In an example, upon successful verification of the authentication parameter, the BIOS  110  may discontinue emulating the disabled capturing device  102  and allow the the OS  106  to communicate with capturing device  102  to enable the application  108  to access the capturing device  102 . 
     Upon enabling the capturing device  102 , the BIOS notifies the user, at block  520 , that the access to the capturing device  102  has been allowed. The application  108  may initiate use of the capturing device  102  to capture image, video, or audio inputs once the capturing device  102  is enabled. After a session of use of the capturing device  102 , the application  108  may end the session and terminate the access to the capturing device  102 . For example, for a video conferencing application, the end of a video call may be the end of a session terminating the access of the camera  102 - 1  by the video conferencing application. 
     At block  522 , the access detection module  208 , registers the termination of the access to the capturing device  102  by the application  108 . At block  524 , the access detection module  208  notifies the BIOS  110  of the termination of the session. In an example, based on the notification by the access detection module  208 , the BIOS  110  detects the termination of access to the capturing device  102  and accordingly, at block  526 , generates a termination notification to notify the user of the termination of access. Thereafter, the method  500  again shifts to block  502 , where the OS&#39;s  106  access to the capturing device  102  is disabled by the BIOS  110 . 
     Detection of termination of access to the capturing device  102  by the application  108  triggers the BIOS  110  to disable the capturing device  102  upon the end of the session. This provides for avoiding situations where another session of access to the capturing device  102  may be initiated by a malware application at the end of the session by the application  108  that had authorized access to the capturing device  102 . 
     Referring to block  516 , if the determination made at block  516  is not affirmative, the method  500  shifts to block  528  where the BIOS  110  denies the request to access the capturing device  102  to the application  108 . The BIOS  110 , at block  530 , may also notify the user that the request to access the capturing device  102  has been denied. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a system environment  600  implementing a non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  for authorizing access to a capturing device of a computing device, according to an example of the present subject matter. In an example implementation, the system environment  600  may be a computing device having a capturing device, such as computing device  100  having the capturing device  102 . The system environment  600  includes a processing resource  604  communicatively coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  through a communication link  606 . In an example, the processor resource  602  may be a processor of the computing device, such as the processor  104  of the computing device  100 , that fetches and executes computer-readable instructions from the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602 . 
     The non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  can be, for example, an internal memory device or an external memory device. In an example implementation, the communication link  606  may be a direct communication link, such as any memory read/write interface. In another example implementation, the communication link  606  may be an indirect communication link, such as a network interface. In such a case, the processing resource  604  can access the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  through a network  608 . The network  608  may be a single network or a combination of multiple networks and may use a variety of different communication protocols. 
     The processing resource  604  and the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  may also be communicatively coupled to data sources  610 . The data source(s)  610  may be used to store a BIOS of the computing device in an example. In an example implementation, the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  includes a set of computer-readable instructions for authorizing the access to the capturing device of the computing device. The set of computer-readable instructions can be accessed by the processing resource  604  through the communication link  606  and subsequently executed to authorize the access to the capturing device. 
     In an example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  may include a set of instructions implementing a capturing module  612  and an authentication module  614 . The instructions implementing the capturing module  612  may, in one example, be a code executable to obtain an authentication parameter associated with a user of the computing device in response to a request to access the capturing device of the computing device from an application executing on the computing device. The instructions implementing the authentication module  614  may, in one example, be a code executable by the processing resource  604 , to verify the authentication parameter based on an authorized authentication parameter stored in a secure memory component accessible to the BIOS of the computing device. Further, the code may be executable to enable the application to access the capturing device based on the verification. 
     In an example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  may include a set of instructions that may, in one example, be executable by the by the processing resource  604  to generate a prompt to request the user to input the authentication parameter. Also, as mentioned before, in an example, the instructions cause the authentication parameter, received in response to the prompt, to be verified and cause the capturing device to be accessible by the application. 
     In an example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium  602  may also include a set of instructions implementing an authentication parameter generator (not shown). The instructions implementing the authentication parameter generator may, in one example, be executable code to generate the authentication parameter. The instructions may further be executable to display the authentication parameter on a display device of the computing device. The instructions may also be executable to receive and verify the authentication parameter and to enable the capturing device based on the verification. 
     Thus, the methods and systems of the present subject matter provide for authorizing access to a capturing device of a computing device. Although implementations of performing the authorization process have been described in a language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as example implementations for communicating the system events.