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Wardle's site is an Apple Certified Developer and the download is also certified. You won't have to turn off any protections to download it. On the other hand, as the article states, turning on the camera surreptitiously is extremely difficult for a hacker to accomplish on a Mac.

This exploit works by getting a malicious app onto the Mac . . . a Trojan. . . but MacOS and OS X recognizes all known Trojans and their variations and families and will warn users when it encounters them to prevent them being downloaded, installed, or run for the first time. It takes industrial strength stupidity for any Mac user to get infected with a malicious app.

The only other way for a malicious app to get onto a Mac is for someone to have physical access to the Mac and an administrator's name and password, again, a very difficult thing to accomplish. If someone has physical access, then they can do anything, and if it's in your home or place of business, they can install cameras and microphones anywhere they want!

Demonstration of proof of concept malware for Mac malicious app that can piggy back on any webcam use to spy on users, seeing them and listening through the mic. This DOES require your Mac be infected with a malicious app, a Trojan, a very difficult thing to accomplish on a modern up-to-date Mac. Apple's firmware does not allow the camera to turn on without the light to also illuminate, an extremely hard thing to bypass. — PING!

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The only other way for a malicious app to get onto a Mac is for someone to have physical access to the Mac and an administrator's name and password, again, a very difficult thing to accomplish.

Something here to learn, for the uneducated masses regarding computer use. Whether it be Windows, OSX, UNIX or other operating systems. A lot of people use personal computers with an admin user account. Not wise to do so for mundane activities. Create regular non-admin user accounts, and log onto those non-admin user accounts for browsing the web, for email, etc. If you need admin access, logon and use it as needed, then switch back to the user account.

If the system requires admin access, it will prompt you to enter an admin account and password. If the only account you use is an admin account, then outside bad things have an easier path to your system to wreak havoc.

Again, I'm not speaking of Macs (because they're better protected), but all operating system platforms in general. I've often helped young friends and relatives, and I'm astonished as to how many of them logon to default admin accounts with simple passwords. They haven't been shown safe computing habits. Spread the word to young newbies on computers.