Open source laser microphone picks up laptop keystrokes
Open source laser microphone picks up laptop keystrokes
Hacker Samy Kamkar is debuting his own open source version of a laser microphone—a spy tool that can invisibly pick up the sounds inside your home through a window, and even the text you’re typing.
The article doesn't mention how it compensates for different keyboards. Like wouldn't different switches and wear change the sound?
That's because it's Wired. Basically a big ass advertisement.
It sounds like bs but its cause that's been solved since around Roman times, heres a pretty interesting website on the technique
Dude in the thumbnail looks like an un-and-coming Bond villain.
Dude in the thumbnail is Samy. He's been a bond villain for a long time now.
Laughs in DVORAK. This is some pretty funny Schitzotroll.
it's heuristic, so it doesn't matter what layout you use.
Ah fuuck
My keyboard is loud enough that it can be heard that far away anyway
Great, now hackers and spies can detect my typing instead of using RATs or Trojans or packet sniffers, or just beating me with a $5 wrench (XKCD)
Also:
The trick, which takes advantage of the subtle acoustics created by tapping different keys on a computer, works even without a view of the computer's keyboard, so long as the hacker has a line-of-sight view of any relatively reflective portion of the target laptop.
So... Closing the curtains is all it takes to defeat this amazing technological method. GG.
I'm not sure why you're so dismissive of this? It's kind of asinine.
Does everyone everywhere only ever use computers in an enclosed room? Is everyone with something value to exfiltrate easily accessible to kidnap and beat with a wrench?
This is valuable for corporate espionage, political purposes, or for nation states. If miniaturized, even easier for targeted attacks where it might be difficult to inject malware, or for broad attacks on office workers.
And the best part is that it doesn't leave a trace which beating someone with a wrench and malware would do....
You're not James Bond. Or a 1337 haxx0r. This technology isn't even new. Why are you stanning this guy? It's an assinine position to take.
So they can hear me type p + enter into my browser?
Ah, another pterodactyl aficionado!
he look silly
And perhaps he was named Billy
And perhaps he has a willy.
Uhm... what was the topic again?
Make it a UV laser and it would be invisible.
demonstrating that he can point a laser that's invisible to the human eye at a faraway laptop, through a window, and detect the computer's vibrations to reconstruct virtually every character typed on it
Infrared is not visible
It's already infrared. Also, UV is partially visible to humans in some scenarios.
On screen keyboard rides again!
Binoculars
Came to find out about the audio quality of this exceptional microphone.
:(
Random unrelated thought I just had, can you guys think of any interesting musical applications to a laser microphone? I found this super cool video when I tried to look it up (there's practically nothing)
Oddly enough - all my keystrokes sound exactly the same which makes this person's claim so much bullshit.
Maybe to you, but with a proper algorithmic analysis of the sounds differences can be fingerprinted and differentiated.
Riiiiiight....
So how do we fix this? Dumb nerds never think about the consequences of their creations.
From the article: "Even knowing that Kamkar's silent, invisible, long-distance laser spy trick exists, how does anyone hide their secrets from it? He suggests that companies install double-paned or reflective glass. Some security device companies also sell protection devices that affix to windows and vibrate them to prevent laser microphone spying, and Kamkar concedes he hasn't tested his attack against those. But he also suggests a safer countermeasure: “Don't work on computers visible from a window,” he says. “Or just have dirty windows.”"