Keyboard Hacking

They claim that they can steal your password by using a microphone and some software to analyze the sound that the keys make when you type. Of course, they can also use it to monitor what you type as well.

Their research is based on the fact that each key makes a slightly different sound when struck, thanks to the angle at which it's pressed and its location above the keyboard supporting plate.

Once the different sounds had been recorded, Tygar and his associates separated them into classes, then mapped them to the most likely keystrokes based on the English language's constraints, including the limited number of key combinations to make words and the limited number of words because of its grammar. Finally, they used spelling and grammar checking software to refine the transcriptions.

"The key insight in our work is that the typed text is often not random," said Tygar.

I don't know about you, but I think I'd notice the microphone or at least it's cable. I'm not totally unobservant. They would probably find it interesting as to what I do with that microphone when I found it as well.

Nice new thing to be paranoid about at a job near you. Nothing like big companies to use such things to monitor the worker.