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Boffins convert typing sounds into text with 95% accuracy (www.theregister.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

144 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Researchers in the UK claim to have translated the sound of laptop keystrokes into their corresponding letters with 95 percent accuracy in some cases.

That 95 percent figure was achieved with nothing but a nearby iPhone. Remote methods are just as dangerous: over Zoom, the accuracy of recorded keystrokes only dropped to 93 percent, while Skype calls were still 91.7 percent accurate.

In other words, this is a side channel attack with considerable accuracy, minimal technical requirements, and a ubiquitous data exfiltration point: Microphones, which are everywhere from our laptops, to our wrists, to the very rooms we work in.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some laptops like the Framework laptop have fingerprint sensors

Physical Security keys like NitroKeys or YubiKeys are another option

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't see the relevance.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can use fingerprint or U2F to unlock your password manager and copy the password. That way you don't have to type it in.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That does nothing for keylogging through this method.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

It would have to be combined with a secure (no microphones) area during setup, but it seems like swapped biometric plus token would defeat this attack (password gathering). It would however not defeat generic data collection.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

It would eliminate someone being able to get your username or password via this method though. Because you never have to type them in.

With my MacBook I can use either touchid or my watch to automatically unlock it, so I don’t even have to type my password in to get into my laptop. And then I use touchid and Keychain for all my passwords so I never have to type those in either.