Electromagnetic Scanners Can Detect What You’re Typing Right Now

It’s obvious to assume that your henpecking on a wireless keyboard could be intercepted by a RF-snooping ne’er-do-well, but what about your wired or laptop keyboard–that should be safe, right? Nope. Researchers at Lausanne, Switzerland’s Security and Cryptography Laboratory (part of the EPFL school) have demonstrated here that 12 different keyboards, bought from 2001 until now, can be eavesdropped upon by monitoring their electromagnetic signatures–wirelessly, from up to 65 feet away, through walls.

. This second video demonstrates the second set of their experiments. The researchers devised four separate methods for EM eavesdropping, which will be detailed in specifics in a paper to be released after peer review. The method for intercepting signals involves detecting the full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a keyboard (which are unshielded to keep costs and form factors down), and analysing the specific change in signal over a variety of wavelengths for each key press. All the more reason to work/live in a giant Farraday cage. LASEC/EPFL]