PSA: Stay away from wireless keyboards (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by black_mouflon@beehaw.org to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I aways wondered if the communication channel between my wireless keyboard and the usb receiver-antena is secure. I never bother to reseach this. Today I figured out the practical way. I turned on my pc at work and I tried to type the first letter of my password. Nothing hapened. Then I started spamming that letter. Still nothing, until the person next to me said "my keyboard is typing all by itself". It turns out she has a wireless mouse with a seemigly identical receiver-antena usb.

The moral of the story. If it was so easy to almost leak my password unintentionally due to this flaw of wireless keyboard communication, imagine wad a bad actor can do intentionally. Why try to brute force, social engineer e.t.c. when your password can be stollen in transit from your keyboard to your pc.

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[-] Doll_Tow_Jet-ski@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Shit my current computer only works with wireless keyboard...Although I guess I could get a regular one and use one of the USB ports. Good to know, thanks.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

If the keyboard is connected via Bluetooth, it should be quite secure.

[-] Doll_Tow_Jet-ski@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

It's connected via wireless USB.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

According to Wikipedia, wireless USB should be secure too: "The goal of the specification was to preserve the functional model of USB, based on intelligent hosts and behaviorally simple devices, while allowing it to operate in a wireless environment and keeping security on a par with the levels offered by traditional wired systems."

[-] Doll_Tow_Jet-ski@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Phew. Thanks for doing the research and sharing the info

this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023

79 points (100.0% liked)

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