Open source laser microphone picks up laptop keystrokes (www.wired.com)
from communism@lemmy.ml to privacy@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 02:19
https://lemmy.ml/post/19087216

#privacy

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bobs_monkey@lemm.ee on 13 Aug 2024 02:54 next collapse

Dude in the thumbnail looks like an un-and-coming Bond villain.

elltee@lemmy.one on 13 Aug 2024 04:54 collapse

Dude in the thumbnail is Samy. He’s been a bond villain for a long time now.

Hello_there@fedia.io on 13 Aug 2024 03:12 next collapse

Make it a UV laser and it would be invisible.

Chozo@fedia.io on 13 Aug 2024 03:34 next collapse

It's already infrared. Also, UV is partially visible to humans in some scenarios.

akwd169@sh.itjust.works on 13 Aug 2024 04:41 collapse

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

Hello_there@fedia.io on 13 Aug 2024 07:21 next collapse

It is visible to security cameras

akwd169@sh.itjust.works on 14 Aug 2024 04:58 collapse

Ahh ok, that’s what you meant before I guess

Since that function is usually meant for night vision, I wonder how well a security camera can pick out the laser during the day i.e. when the IR sensors are being swamped by daylight also coming in through the window

sneezycat@sopuli.xyz on 13 Aug 2024 08:19 next collapse

Infrared doesn’t pass through windows.

HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com on 13 Aug 2024 14:58 next collapse

actually thats UV. transition lenses won't change with a glass window thats not open. infrared is basically heat and does indeed pass through. Cars in the sun would not get hot so fast if they did not let in infrared.

sneezycat@sopuli.xyz on 13 Aug 2024 18:03 next collapse

I have an IR camera and windows look like mirrors. Might depend on the type of glass idk.

HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com on 13 Aug 2024 19:33 collapse

if this yahoo from the internet I found in a search is right then its both:

"Glass will bock low frequency IR (red hot), but allow the passage of high frequency (white hot) IR. Hence, the heat of the sun will easily pass into a greenhouse, but once this energy is converted into low frequency heat by the objects within that absorb it, then the resulting low frequency heat is trapped. Hence, the Greenhouse Effect."

sneezycat@sopuli.xyz on 13 Aug 2024 20:27 collapse

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for doing the homework!

Hello_there@fedia.io on 14 Aug 2024 06:15 collapse

Some UV is blocked by glass. Either UVA or UVB. It doesn't block both.

HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com on 14 Aug 2024 15:35 collapse

yeah I encountered it when looking at infrared for another convo in the thread. its uvb for what we think of as glass. the clear stuff. which is what causes sunburns and the transition lenses to activate.

akwd169@sh.itjust.works on 14 Aug 2024 05:00 collapse

I’m not going to argue with you but you should read the article perhaps? It’s pretty specific about where the laser is aimed vis a vis windows and whatnot

EarthShipTechIntern@lemm.ee on 14 Aug 2024 04:27 collapse

Infrared is not visible

To humans

[deleted] on 13 Aug 2024 04:38 next collapse
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HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com on 13 Aug 2024 14:56 next collapse

Agent 1: "yeah. hes the sex offender."

msage@programming.dev on 13 Aug 2024 16:27 collapse

Everybody is offended by an idea of a sex with them

electricprism@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 23:20 collapse
feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world on 13 Aug 2024 07:45 next collapse

he look silly

biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works on 13 Aug 2024 14:57 collapse

And perhaps he was named Billy

hakunawazo@lemmy.world on 14 Aug 2024 09:41 collapse

And perhaps he has a willy.
Uhm… what was the topic again?

AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 07:56 next collapse

So how do we fix this? Dumb nerds never think about the consequences of their creations.

[deleted] on 13 Aug 2024 08:10 next collapse
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AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 08:33 next collapse

What a strange response.

electricprism@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 23:18 collapse

Sorry I can’t hear you over my jet engine case fans

fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works on 13 Aug 2024 10:12 next collapse

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.””

AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 16:52 collapse

Companies can’t even be convinced to have longer passwords on their wifi. And open office plans mean every computer faces a window

fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works on 13 Aug 2024 17:58 collapse

Then companies deserved to be hacked. shrug

AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 23:34 next collapse

But I work at companies and I would like my info to not be hacked. Their fuck ups affect employees and customers

fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works on 14 Aug 2024 00:21 collapse

And they should be held liable for the costs occurred to employees and customers.

Ranger@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 15 Aug 2024 01:36 collapse

The problem is the companies aren’t suffering the majority of the consequences of the security breaches, it’s the people these companies have personal information on & that includes people who have never done business with these companies but that these companies purchased data on.

dirtybeerglass@hexbear.net on 13 Aug 2024 10:40 collapse

Close the blinds

AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 16:51 collapse

At an office building where other people are inside the building with you? This is going to cause problems if it gets cheap enough

dirtybeerglass@hexbear.net on 13 Aug 2024 17:13 collapse

Probably not because You can detect the with an iPhone camera.

The tech is like 30 years old.

AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 23:35 collapse

Oh that’s good to know. I’m gonna go pull a laser designator warning off of a wrecked tank.

dirtybeerglass@hexbear.net on 14 Aug 2024 00:08 collapse

Everyone needs a hobby.

FluffyPotato@lemm.ee on 13 Aug 2024 15:28 next collapse

The article doesn’t mention how it compensates for different keyboards. Like wouldn’t different switches and wear change the sound?

MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 16:08 next collapse

That’s because it’s Wired. Basically a big ass advertisement.

Sethayy@sh.itjust.works on 13 Aug 2024 17:39 collapse

It sounds like bs but its cause that’s been solved since around Roman times, heres a pretty interesting website on the technique

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 13 Aug 2024 15:57 next collapse

Another great reason to use a custom, constantly shifting keyboard layout

rollerbang@lemmy.world on 13 Aug 2024 16:38 next collapse

It’s just a question of matching pattern with most used words against languages…

baatliwala@lemmy.world on 13 Aug 2024 18:18 collapse

RIP touch typing

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 13 Aug 2024 18:34 collapse

I use blank key caps, and I find it leads to much more comfortable touch typing.

Slower, sure, but cozier also

Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml on 13 Aug 2024 19:36 next collapse

Why would blank keycaps matter for touch typing

obinice@lemmy.world on 14 Aug 2024 05:19 collapse

fiojvd gff uiig fvg. Hh

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 14 Aug 2024 14:25 collapse

Exactly

HowMany@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 17:51 next collapse

Oddly enough - all my keystrokes sound exactly the same which makes this person’s claim so much bullshit.

Lemongrab@lemmy.one on 13 Aug 2024 21:47 collapse

Maybe to you, but with a proper algorithmic analysis of the sounds differences can be fingerprinted and differentiated.

HowMany@lemmy.ml on 28 Aug 16:41 collapse

Riiiiiight…

anonymous111@lemmy.world on 13 Aug 2024 23:08 next collapse

On screen keyboard rides again!

terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 14 Aug 2024 03:50 collapse

Binoculars

electricprism@lemmy.ml on 13 Aug 2024 23:21 next collapse

Laughs in DVORAK. This is some pretty funny Schitzotroll.

VictoriaAScharleau@lemmy.world on 13 Aug 2024 23:57 collapse

it’s heuristic, so it doesn’t matter what layout you use.

ReakDuck@lemmy.ml on 14 Aug 2024 15:02 collapse

Ah fuuck

archchan@lemmy.ml on 14 Aug 2024 00:00 next collapse

So they can hear me type p + enter into my browser?

jwt@programming.dev on 14 Aug 2024 00:21 collapse

Ah, another pterodactyl aficionado!

caseyweederman@lemmy.ca on 14 Aug 2024 03:17 next collapse

My keyboard is loud enough that it can be heard that far away anyway

EarthShipTechIntern@lemm.ee on 14 Aug 2024 04:28 next collapse

Came to find out about the audio quality of this exceptional microphone.

:(

z00s@lemmy.world on 14 Aug 2024 09:19 next collapse

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.

douglasg14b@lemmy.world on 15 Aug 2024 00:14 collapse

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…

z00s@lemmy.world on 15 Aug 2024 13:05 collapse

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.

MorkofOrk@lemmy.world on 15 Aug 2024 00:47 collapse

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)

m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ja6gsoNJCY