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

submitted 9 months ago by kpw@kbin.social to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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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[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

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?

[-] overlordror@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

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.

[-] Dave@lemmy.nz 9 points 9 months ago

I type an awful lot slower than you, and still it's faster than I can think. How do you think of what to type fast enough to type at 160wpm?

[-] flipht@kbin.social 11 points 9 months ago

Not the original person you responded to, but I type 120ish wpm. The trick is to try to tap into the same part of your brain that verbalizes words when you talk, rather than the part that composes stuff when you write.

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this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023

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