Can You Hear Me Now?

Berkeley Researchers Sniff Out Passwords From Keyboard Clicks

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - If spyware and key-logging software weren't a big enough threat to privacy, researchers have figured out a way to eavesdrop on your computer simply by listening to the clicks and clacks of the keyboard.

Those seemingly random noises, when processed by a computer, were translated with up to 96 percent accuracy, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

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  Berkeley Researchers Sniff Out Passwords From Keyboard Clicks

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - If spyware and key-logging software weren't a big enough threat to privacy, researchers have figured out a way to eavesdrop on your computer simply by listening to the clicks and clacks of the keyboard.

Those seemingly random noises, when processed by a computer, were translated with up to 96 percent accuracy, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

"It's a form of acoustical spying that should raise red flags among computer security and privacy experts," said Doug Tygar, a Berkeley computer science professor and the study's principal investigator.

Researchers used several 10-minute audio recordings of people typing away at their keyboards. They fed the recordings into a computer that used an algorithm to detect subtle differences in the sound as each letter is struck.

On the first run, the computer had an accuracy of about 60 percent for characters and 20 percent for words, said Li Zhuang, a Berkeley graduate student and lead author of the study. After spelling and grammar checks were deployed, the accuracy for individual letters jumped to 70 percent and words to 50 percent.

The software learned to improve as researchers repeatedly fed back the same recordings, using results of spelling and grammar checks as a gauge on correctness. In the end, it could accurately detect 96 percent of characters and 88 percent of words.

"If we were able to figure this out, it's likely that people with less honorable intentions can - and have - as well," Tygar said. 

Researchers said there is some limitation to their technique. For one, their work did not take into account the use of a computer mouse or the "shift," "control," "backspace" or "caps lock" keys. They did, however, describe approaches for taking those into account.

The use of a computer mouse is another challenge, the researchers said.

The Berkeley research builds on the findings of an International Business Machines Corp. study in which 80 percent of text was recovered from the sound of keyboard clicks.

The IBM team, however, relied on controlled conditions such as using the same keyboard and training the software with known text and corresponding sound samples.

Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security Inc., called the study "a great piece of research." He said audio eavesdropping is just one of many possible techniques to spy on PC users.

"If the bad guys can get access to your physical space, they can eavesdrop on your stuff," he said. "They can install a camera or a keyboard logger on the wire. They can install a microphone."

The Berkeley researchers built their system using off-the-shelf equipment. 

"We didn't need high-quality audio to accomplish this," said Feng Zhou, another Berkley graduate student and study author. "We just used a $10 microphone that can be easily purchased in almost any computer supply store."

The Berkeley researchers, part of the Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology, will present their results Nov. 10 at a computer and communications security conference in Alexandria, Va.  AP

Comments

[imp]

Wonder if they can interpret what it reads when heads and boobs hit the keys?.....lol....psychotic analytic keyboard readers.....i need that job.

[Phoenix]

Ha ha ha... Imp.... Too funny! I was thinking of food hitting the keys. You know, like some Kung Pow Chicken or maybe some lettuce from your sub and a pickle or two. splaat.

My keyboard doesn't click. It's silent. I kind of like the click ones. But this one is completely silent. The caps lock and the 'a' 's' 'd' are sticking, though. I think it's jelly. I don't know, though. Maybe it's ashes, ashes, they all fall down.....

[imp]

good gawd gal....where are u.....do i need to make an appointment or a date.....dit and dot on the keyboard or what?.....i want one that i can bitch slap into silence.......make a racket an let me slamm it an yet not have to get a new one! ~s~

[imp]

reference to jelly.....you been kinking on da keys?..a sure sign of kink is jelly on da keys, dont ya know?

i know you and ya spiked red clickin' heels and such.....gawd, ya wench....with a cape and tierra no less.....geeze..lmao

[Steel]

Whistles as he walks quietly by ...

[imp]

*grins* ans watches as Steel walks by quietly...yeah right......he can wait to get into the frey

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I say, I say, STEELE, is that you. Is that you, STEELE?? Jus Whistlin' by? Whut you whistlin' fore boy?? I say, I say, whut es et you ar whistlin' about I am astin' you? Boy I'm talkin to you. I say, I say, I'm not hearin' an answer. I'm not hearin' a thing outta you, boy. I say... Are you the silent type. Got nothin' ta say whin the mood hits ya? WAIT A MINIT HERE! I am sensing the problim. I say, I say, boy YOU HAVE YORE HAID UP YORE CLOACA. I say, now git it owt afore you suffocate. Ya hear me boy?! All righty, I jus been informed a male chicken ain't got no
clofuckingaca. That would be the female. In that case, allow me to refer you to a certain chickinbitch whut has a bad case of cloacal-cranial-embediment. Sad condition boy, sad sad sad. When this chickinbitch takes her head out, she lays a egg. Big goldurn egg, I say. Ever time. And guess whut? Not a damn thing comes owt that egg. No wunder, I say, no wonder you have nuthin ta say.

[TINA]

All that time and money and energy wasted.Wasted because all you would have to do to see where I have been is to look at my table, because I print out almost everything that comes up on my screen. Seems sorta sad, doesn't it?I mean, all that time spent listening to clackity-clak, and my fingernails make more noise than my keyboard! Besides which, 90% of my passwords are automaticly put in by....oh no, I'm not going to reveal THAT key!