Wired Keyboards Remotely Hacked From 20 Meters Away
LASEC, the Security and Cryptography Laboratory, claimed to have found four different ways of remotely capturing keystrokes from wired keyboards from a distance of up to 20 meters away. The keystrokes can be captured through walls, making vulnerable the security of many computers and even possibly ATMs.
The approach used works on the theory that when a key is pressed on a wired keyboard, it produces electromagnetic emanations. This electromagnetic radiation can be acquired and captured with the use of an antenna, which can then be analyzed. Four different methods had been tested, including the Kuhn attack, although not much information on the other methods have yet been provided. It was claimed that the attacks could be significantly improved, as the equipment used in the experiment was relatively inexpensive.
Eleven different wired keyboard models were tested, including PS/2, USB and laptop keyboards, all of which were vulnerable to at least one of the four different methods used. Apparently the reason these keyboards generate the compromising emanations is mostly “because of the cost pressures in the design.” More information regarding these attacks will soon be published, although the paper is still undergoing peer review. For the time being however, there are two videos being hosted that demonstrate the attacks.
From the videos, it looked as if the antenna being used in one of the demonstrations was rather large and not very inconspicuous, nor did it seem as if the keystrokes could be captured at a high rate of speed. However, with banking machines using wired keyboards, it may be possible for a truck to park nearby an ATM and remotely capture private information entered into the ATM, such as a customer’s PIN. No longer it seem is just avoiding wireless keyboards enough to ensure security, as even wired keyboards now need protection, such as electromagnetic shielding.
...this technology has been around for about 20 years couting from now.
it not only enables the keystroke capturing but also video capture from crt monitors [doesnt work on lcd tho, as those run on digital signalling... unless u use vga cable instead of dvi] anyway LASEC is the first non-military organization to develop this technology.
Don't care if you rate this comment negatively!
Still,pretty amazing what they can do!
Wanted to see if laptops where safe...
That signal is in a ultra-short wavelength and is somehow related to all the machine does. it could reach far enough to get intercepted. not sure how hard it would be to decode.
*) the removal of NEEDED items (people don't go around swapping out their PC for a laptop all the time, or unplugging from the mains with no monitor to prevent interference).
*) the fact the programs to decode the sequences stopped running automagically.. How does it know you've stopped typing "password"?
Smells of "FAKE" to me..