The researchers stress that while their study is proof-of-concept and has not been used to crack passwords in real-world settings, it highlights the need for vigilance. They suggest mitigating the risk of such acoustic "side channel attacks" by using biometric passwords, two-step verification systems, or mixing upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. They also warn against typing sensitive information during video calls, as visual cues could also reveal keystrokes.
Key takeaways:
- Researchers have developed a system that can determine which keys are being pressed on a laptop keyboard with over 90% accuracy, based solely on the sound of the typing.
- The study highlights the increasing threat of cyber-attacks based on sounds, especially with the rise in use of video conferencing tools like Zoom and devices with built-in microphones.
- The system was able to accurately assign the correct key to a sound 95% of the time when the recording was made over a phone call, and 93% of the time when the recording was made over a Zoom call.
- The researchers suggest mitigating the risk of such acoustic "side channel attacks" by using biometric passwords, activating two-step verification systems, or using a mixture of upper and lower cases, or numbers and symbols.