Shocker: wireless keylogging is quite easy

Well as usual, with the benefits of wireless technology come detriments in the form of security holes, and now a pair of researchers from Dreamlab have proven just how easy it is to sniff out the transmissions broadcast by RF keyboards. According to their whitepaper, "27MHz keyboard insecurities," Max Moser and Philipp Schrödel claim that keystroke signals sent from Microsoft's Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 and 2000 are encrypted with a simple one-byte offset cipher -- meaning that there are only 256 possible keys, with less than 50 sample strokes needed for decryption. And in case you thought you were safe with a non-Microsoft board, think again: Team Dreamlab is busy hacking Logitech's "Secure Connect" protocol as we speak. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Hack-A-Day]

[Jagannath A @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:27AM]

b82b14b46b86b84twwwwwwwwdadaaada ada adadwwwddwdwdwdaddwdz1z3z3z3z3x1x1x1x1x1x1x1x1x1x1wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwww adadadadadadadayWTF!!!!11111yhe hax

[tyler @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:37AM]

counter-strike is awesome :)

[thethirdmoose @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:42AM]

...confused...

[Kurian @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:44AM]

Now to write a program that processes the sniffed keystrokes and renders a box on screen at the enemies predicted location.

[nog_lorp @ May 18th 2008 8:32PM]

who the hell buys in the order of armor-deagle-rifle? Freak.

Kurian: its already made, its called Counterstrike :D, just pipe the input into another copy of the game. You would have to consider all spawn points though - or just have it draw the path from a random spawnpoint, and it would be obvious how it aligns to hallways.

[Kurian @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:44AM]

And will be VAC Proof.

[Kurian @ Dec 3rd 2007 11:44AM]

GREAT!
Not only do we need to sit in sound proof rooms ( http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/09/14_key.shtml )

We now need WEP for keyboards.

[RC @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:46AM]

So that's what that dude in the sunglasses was doing, standing 6 feet away from me while I was typing. ....I shouldn't have Googled what I Googled.

[Jagannath A @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:37PM]

google is no different from that dude in sun glasses....

[Mike @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:52AM]

Makes me wonder what kind of encryption my BlueTooth keyboard is using, and who might be reading this right now :)

[David Clark @ Dec 3rd 2007 10:04AM]

Security is dead.

I made the mistake of buying this media center optical keyboard that requires line of sight to a receiving USB IR receiver. Considering that it does good to work decently when its 1 foot away, I'm willing to bet nobody can sniff my typing from 6 feet out of the room.

[Cycomachead @ Dec 3rd 2007 10:13AM]

Does this mean anything for BT keyboards?

[Cycomachead @ Dec 3rd 2007 10:13AM]

Does this mean anything for BT keyboards?

[chedabob @ Dec 3rd 2007 10:17AM]

Fat lot of use on those keyboards though: They have a range of like 1 meter.

[mattclarkie @ Dec 3rd 2007 11:46AM]

I have tested the range on my Logitech RF, you would have to be in the room, which means you could just look over my shoulder. If someone was in my house they could do more that log my keystrokes.

[Spyvie @ Dec 3rd 2007 11:16AM]

That's what I was thinking...

The only way you could intercept keystrokes from an IR keyboard is to have an IR sensor in the room or attached to a window pointing into the room... might as well just use a camera looking over someones shoulder.

[auger282 @ Dec 3rd 2007 11:37AM]

well you could always use a yagi directional sniffing antenna

[Billy Fiul @ Dec 3rd 2007 12:22PM]

Thanks for that PDF warning. Had I clicked on it, my computer would have spontaneously combusted.

[mvp @ Dec 3rd 2007 12:24PM]

This only makes me hate my keyboard even more...

[Reid Conti @ Dec 3rd 2007 12:29PM]

I do not think anybody reading this thought that they were safe with a non-MS keyboard :)

[Joe @ Dec 3rd 2007 12:54PM]

I am so tired of Microsoft's lack of security.

[Paul @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:10PM]

You see, I had this whole reply typed out when I realized you were just another troll and I decided that it was not really worth my time.

Check out Joe's last few comments: http://www.blogsmith.com/profile/45904/

They are all negative, not a single positive response. I think someone needs to get off the grump couch.

[John @ Dec 3rd 2007 12:57PM]

If you want to sit outside my house in the cold trying to decrypt my typings, you just go right ahead

[Joe @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:50PM]

@ John: Apologies, seems my response to Paul (who responded to my post) ended up under your post.

[Joe @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:48PM]

Evidently, it was worth your time, since you spent some of it to respond and went so far as to locate past posts of mine.

Your response says much more about you than me.

Cheers.

[cubiclegangsta @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:32PM]

HA! U n00bs! This is why i don't use *any* keyboards. evar.

[finnith @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:31PM]

on-screen keyboard ftw?

[cubiclegangsta @ Dec 3rd 2007 8:24PM]

i simply type up nuggets such as this one via sheer will of mind.

j/k. i was mocking trolls.

[sizzle @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:40PM]

If you slap yourself in the same spot over and over you'll get cancer in that spot.

[{MHWW} dM@n @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:57PM]

Hey, that's my keyboard/mouse set!

[jou @ Mar 26th 2008 4:20AM]

Shocker: water is wet