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Boffins convert typing sounds into text with 95% accuracy (www.theregister.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Researchers in the UK claim to have translated the sound of laptop keystrokes into their corresponding letters with 95 percent accuracy in some cases.

That 95 percent figure was achieved with nothing but a nearby iPhone. Remote methods are just as dangerous: over Zoom, the accuracy of recorded keystrokes only dropped to 93 percent, while Skype calls were still 91.7 percent accurate.

In other words, this is a side channel attack with considerable accuracy, minimal technical requirements, and a ubiquitous data exfiltration point: Microphones, which are everywhere from our laptops, to our wrists, to the very rooms we work in.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

I never learned to touch-type, so my typing style is very different from most people though I can type fast enough for work.

My typing style only uses 3 fingers, and both hands type keys in the middle of the keyboard.

I wonder if this has any effect on accuracy?

Edit: Article states touch-typing can reduce accuracy. Wonder if that's because they type more softly than us tech gorillas who tend to bash on the keys?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (6 children)

I'm a touch typist who can reach 160wpm when I'm really flowing, I would guess the speed makes accuracy harder to distinguish individual keys than you pressing keys with three fingers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah, the article mentions that exactly - the faster you type the more the accuracy plummets.

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