this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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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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[–] Waldowal@lemmy.world 91 points 9 months ago (4 children)

New policy from the corporate office: If you are working in a public place, like a coffee shop, please scream while typing your login password.

[–] sanimalp@lemmy.world 43 points 9 months ago

I screamed my password and now I got hacked. Thanks for nothing!

[–] tourist@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

use the onscreen keyboard

much more secure

why won't my bank stop calling me

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[–] Cronch@lemmy.world 86 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Quite scary considering the accuracy and how many open mics everyone is surrounded by without even realizing it. Not to mention if any content creator types their password while live streaming or recording they could get their accounts stolen.

[–] vareriu@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago (7 children)

One more reason to switch to a password manager, even though they could still find out the master password…

[–] qwertyqwertyqwerty@lemmy.one 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Probably still have some safety if you're using two-factor, or have a master key in addition to a password (e.g. 1Password).

[–] mosiacmango@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Or use a local password safe like keepass.

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[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

This has been a known attack vector for years, and I wonder how no livestreamer has been (publicly) attacked in this way.

I guess in large part this can be attributed to 2FA, passwords just aren't worth much by themselves anymore (well I guess if someone is quick enough they can snipe the OTP as well, but streamers are rarely entering their 2FA while streaming since they're on a trusted device).

In fact the biggest attack vector I'd worry about is the infamous SMS 2FA, which is actually 1FA for password resets, which is actually 0FA "yes dear phone operator I am indeed Mister Beast please move my phone number to this new SIM".

[–] topinambour_rex@lemmy.world 86 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Use a speech to text and they won't be able to hear your keyboard strokes. I know, I'm a genius.

[–] popekingjoe@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science?

[–] kpw@kbin.social 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)
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[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 54 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Neat, so when my friends are taking about satisfyingly clackety keyboards I can inform them it’s a security hazard.

[–] AmberPrince@kbin.social 38 points 9 months ago

I'll accept the risk. I need the clicky

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 10 points 9 months ago (9 children)

Good luck, I have a non standard key layout

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[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 40 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This is why I always make sure there are no boffins around before I start typing.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

If there are boffins around, I start typing out the GDPR guidelines in full

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[–] laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone 39 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Not to be a jerk, but is this actually new? I've heard of this being done at least ten years ago...

On another note, one way to beat this (to a degree) would be to use an alternate keyboard like Dvorak (though you could probably code it to be able to detect that based on what's being typed)

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 20 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I think it's largely been a state actor thing. Directional microphone to record your window from across the street, spend significant tax money on crunching numbers on a supercomputer to get at your password kind of thing, I think they already could do it in the 90s. Real-time 95% accuracy on a non-specialised device is a quite different ballpark: Now every skiddie can do it.

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[–] misophist@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Coding for alternate key mappings is almost as trivial as detecting other languages.

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[–] frezik@midwest.social 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

There has been previous work on this, yes. It required a dictionary of suggested words. That would make it useful for snooping most typing, but not for randomly generated passwords. This new technique doesn't seem to have that limitation.

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[–] NAXLAB@lemmy.world 37 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think I might have achieved security through obscurity. My custom keyboard is a unique shape and almost all the keys are one unit. Not only is it different enough from a traditional keyboard that the neural network probably won't understand it, the function layers I use obscure whether I'm typing a letter at all.

[–] Outsider9042@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago (5 children)
[–] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Does that come with free fingerless gloves?

[–] Outsider9042@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No, but it comes with your choice of flavoured frozen yoghurt.

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[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

I have a headache just looking at that.

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[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 25 points 9 months ago

I guess my typos are now a security feature!

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 23 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I wonder if you need to train it on a specific keyboard before it will work it.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That would limit the practicallity quite a lot, as deskmats and typing style would change the sound of even a common keyboard.

I also notice that I slightly change my typing style between typing normally and entering my password.

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[–] mski@lemmy.ca 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'd be curious how well this approach translates to multi-lingual keyboard layouts. For english users, perhaps theres another benefit to non-QWERTY layouts (e.g. Colemak or Dvorak) after all? ... and two factor authentication should remain helpful I presume. Especially physical key methods with no audible characters typed (e.g. Yubikey, Titan, etc.)

[–] jrbaconcheese@yall.theatl.social 22 points 9 months ago

I was thinking the same, but it would be trivial for software to realize that “fnj xlg” maps to “the dog” with Colemak or Dvorak.

[–] FrankTheHealer@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago (11 children)

Can we normalise good but quiet keyboards. Like, I like the tactile feel of using a mechanical, but I hate the sound. Quieter mechanical keyboards aren't a thing but they should be. Now as a security measure if nothing else.

Also Dvorak keyboards I guess

[–] Pinecone@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago (2 children)

There are tons of quiet mechanical keyboards. I'm using a low profile optical switch that's quieter than my mouse clicks

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[–] VelociCatTurd@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There are definitely quiet tactile switches. The reason why they can still make sound is because they’re bottoming out which you don’t have to do.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 7 points 9 months ago

As a partial solution, you can put o-rings in the keycaps. I had some of the bands for braces laying around at one point and used those, and it worked fairly well.

[–] NAXLAB@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Dvorak is a cypher of Qwerty tho. Anything typed in Dvorak but transcribed as english can be reliably identified and decyphered

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[–] netchami@sh.itjust.works 14 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Some laptops like the Framework laptop have fingerprint sensors

Physical Security keys like NitroKeys or YubiKeys are another option

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[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I never learned to touch-type, so my typing style is very different from most people though I can type fast enough for work.

My typing style only uses 3 fingers, and both hands type keys in the middle of the keyboard.

I wonder if this has any effect on accuracy?

Edit: Article states touch-typing can reduce accuracy. Wonder if that's because they type more softly than us tech gorillas who tend to bash on the keys?

[–] overlordror@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (6 children)

I'm a touch typist who can reach 160wpm when I'm really flowing, I would guess the speed makes accuracy harder to distinguish individual keys than you pressing keys with three fingers.

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[–] elias_griffin@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Is it ignorance, indemnity, or conspiracy that this News Media Corporation didn't give the primary mitigation?

A white noise generator.

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

How good does this work if there's other noise pollution? Like music playing etc?

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