Picture by: Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com
Two separate research teams, from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne and security consultancy Inverse Path have been studying the electromagentic emmisions of keyboards. Every time a computer keyboard is tapped, it produces a small radiative emmision. It turns out that this keystroke radiation is actually pretty easy to capture and decode -- if you're a computer hacker-type, that is.
The idea of someone sniffing out keystrokes with a wireless antenna may seem ripped from the pages of a spy thriller, but criminals have already used sneaky techniques such as wireless video cameras placed near automated teller machines and Wi-Fi sniffers to steal credit-card numbers and passwords.
The Ecole Polytechnique team did its work using an oscilloscope and an inexpensive wireless antenna. The team was able to pick up keystrokes from virtually any keyboard. With the keyboard's cabling and nearby power wires acting as antennas for these electromagnetic signals, the researchers were able to read keystrokes with 95 percent accuracy over a distance of up to 20 meters (22 yards), in ideal conditions.
If pulling keystrokes out of thin air isn't bad enough, another team has found a way to get the same kind of information out of a power socket. Using similar techniques, Inverse Path researchers Andrea Barisani and Daniele Bianco say they get accurate results, picking out keyboard signals from keyboard ground cables.Link
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