this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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439
Boffins convert typing sounds into text with 95% accuracy (www.theregister.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
147 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] 14 points 1 year 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Okay, gotcha. I didn't look that deeply into it previously so I never realized how limited that was

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

So about those people that run around saying passphrases are better... 😅