wireless keyboard security

[Michael Havens]

this is creating great conversation!

:-)~MIKE~(-:


On Fri, Nov 8, 2013 at 8:50 AM, Derek Trotter <expat.arizonan at gmail.com>wrote:

>  I'm what most would call a night owl so I would have been up anyway.  I
> read something a few years ago that said a man in an apartment who had a
> wireless mouse noticed the mouse pointer moving around the screen by
> itself.  Turned out his neighbor also had a wireless mouse.  I also read
> back in the 80s that somebody had figured out how to take the RF noise
> given off by a crt and use it to generate an image of what was being
> displayed on the monitor.  For me, plain old fashioned wired keyboards and
> mice work, so why bother with wireless ones.  I've talked to people who
> have had wireless mice and keyboard and had trouble with the batteries
> giving out at a bad time.
>
>  On 11/08/2013 07:43 AM, George Toft wrote:
>
> Hi Derrick,
>
> Topic keeping you up at night?  J/K
>
> The answer, of course, is "it depends."  The older the keyboard, the
> weaker (or not at all) the encryption.  Microsoft now has AES encryption
> available (
> http://news.techworld.com/security/3284218/new-microsoft-wireless-keyboard-gets-128-bit-encryption/).
> Logitech had AES since at least 2009.  Google: wireless keyboard encryption
>
> Also keep in mind some factors that mitigate wireless snooping risks:
> * transmission power - not much you can do here, but the broadcast power
> is not that high - how far away does your keyboard work from the receiver?
> In my experience, this is limited to about 3 feet (usually less - a lot
> less).
> * distance to attacker's receiver - is the attacker in the same room or in
> a van with a high-gain antenna parked on the street?  If you have a van
> parked outside, you might want to reconsider your lifestyle :)  Seriously,
> this year's defcon demonstrated screen viewing by receiving the EM
> transmissions from the video cable (something the US and USSR were doing 25
> years ago), so wired keyboard tapping is not too far away.
> * shielding - do you have objects between you and the attacker that will
> absorb the transmissions?  With a wired keyboard, you can wrap the cable in
> a grounded coax sheath to shield the EM.  Wireless?  Might have to wrap
> your room/house in a Faraday cage.
> * time - how much is your keyboard in use?  More use gives the attacker
> more data to capture and analyze.
>
> Just some stuff to think about.  The threat is real, but the probability
> is very low, unless you have other factors in your life that would bring
> about the surveillance van, then the game is up - nothing you can do will
> save you.
>
> Cheers!
>
> George Toft
>
> On 11/8/2013 1:16 AM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>
> What kind of encryption if any is used by wireless keyboards?  Seems to me
> that a wireless keyboard is a potential security issue.  After all, all
> sorts of usernames and passwords would be broadcast by one.  This would
> just make the NSA's or any other group of bad guys' job easier.
>
> --
> "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>
> Patrick Moore
>
>
>
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> --
> "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>
> Patrick Moore
>
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