It may appear like science fiction. That the very sound of the pressure on a keyboard can be read and understood by a computer. But already in 2016, researchers in the United States came to the conclusion that different keys give off unique sounds. With recent years of development in artificial intelligence and deep learning, researchers in the United Kingdom have now tested how close it is possible to understand which keys are pressed just by listening, reports the site Techxplore.
Eavesdropping
The result? A phone that was 17 centimeters from a computer could “hear” which keys were pressed with an accuracy of 95 percent. If the researchers instead used the audio recording from a Zoom meeting, the accuracy of guessing the correct keystroke was 93 percent. The researchers do not perform a risk analysis of the study, but point to potential risk points where, for example, smart speakers, which are always on, in someone’s home could be infiltrated and exploited to “hear” what is written in the home.
Defense Engineer
According to Techxplore, the researchers list a couple of pieces of advice for anyone who wants to avoid being detected based solely on keystrokes: + Change the writing style or deliberately press the wrong key when, for example, passwords are to be entered. + Use the shift key often, as it seems to be difficult for the algorithms to perceive.+ Use other forms of identification than written passwords, such as finger or face recognition.