May 14, 2004

Whispering keyboards. No need to get completely paranoid but did you know that eavesdroppers could be reading every word that you type into your computer simply by listening to the sounds of your keystrokes? Every key on your keyboard emits a unique sound and a computer with a microphone and some neural network software could be set up to recognise it and record it with an accuracy of 80%. This issue also applies to keypads on door locks, ATM machines and telephones.

Now there's any need to panic. Like I said, they could be doing it, not that they actually are doing it. You know who I'm talking about.

posted by John Hardy 20 years ago
  • You surprising man!
  • Hope you used a 'rubber keyboard coffee guard' while typing that. Er... I see this chap works for IBM. They don't sell rubber keyboard coffee guards, do they, by any chance?
  • Wouldn't each keypad generate different tones, due to acoustically significant vagaries in manufacturing? And subsequently, wouldn't the analysis software have to be "trained" to read a specific board or pad? Like voice recog software, and we all know how well *that* stuff works? I'd be much more worried about your easily available, easily installed and totally invisible-to-user hardware based keystroke recorders. 100% accuracy on this, right from the get-go. Much like you might find in the advertising at the bottom of the article.
  • That is why I usually type in a language only I understand. Zignoigenplatt, ha ha, can't catch me now.
  • Wouldn't each keypad generate different tones, due to acoustically significant vagaries in manufacturing? And subsequently, wouldn't the analysis software have to be "trained" to read a specific board or pad? Admittedly it's not the only way nor even the best way to spy on someone but it's a surprising one and surprisingly effective to boot. Also it applies to all kinds of keyboards.
    He was also able to train the software on one keyboard to decipher the keystrokes on any other keyboard of the same make and model...Good sound quality is not required to recognize the acoustic signature or frequency of the key. In fact, Asonov was able to extract the audio captured by a cellular phone and still decipher the signal...he believed it was possible to use acoustical analysis algorithms to decipher key sounds based simply on gathering the data from just a couple of keys and extrapolating what other keys should sound like
  • Hmm. Missed that paragraph, good point though, thanks.
  • i knew what you were going to post before you hit the post button, Fes. mu. ha. ha. ha.
  • I always try to make a rapid clicking sound with my tongue as I type, just to throw them off the scent. In the future, I hope to be in a position where I can employ either a !Kung San tribesman, or possible a dolphin, to do this work for me. (It may slow down productivity, but I have just noticed that shouting "POW!", "SMACK!", "THWAP!", "CRAAAASH!" - and other such comic book noises - every time you make a keystroke does add a sense of awe and majesty to whatever you're typing. PAZZANG!)
  • and another reason why periodically spilling an entire beer into the keyboard makes me the most brilliant person in the world. Take *this* evil doers!! HA ha gb *^;z
  • So, basically they know I've spent the last hour or so bashing at my number pad? And here I thought the cartoon noises of hammers hitting alien cyclopses would've been the dead giveaway... =)
  • I've been sussed by Quonset! *Maniacally deletes porn, The Donnas mp3 oeuvre, first draft of 'semi-autobiographical' erotic novel, tarted-up resume, around the office upskirt collection, sumo basho pool stats, frisky chat logs, and bootleg mpegs of the Ben Stiller Show*
  • If anyone takes the initiative to record the sound of my nails clacking on a keyboard at 90wpm and then analyze it to discover exactly what I'm typing then they deserve to know. I don't think I have that much initiative about anything. It would probably be easier for them to just go read my blog (or here) though. That's everything I type in text form.
  • we knew you were going to post that.
  • OoooeeEEEEoooOOO. Spooky, Pete! Spooky!!