September 21st, 2005
Keystroke logger of the worst kind: a microphone
Just when you thought anti-spyware technology was making it safe to compute again, researchers at the University of California have come up with a new form of spyware using some old technology: a microphone. According to a story on ScientificAmerican.com, with 88 percent accuracy (after certain algorithms were applied), the researchers "successfully decoded what was typed into a computer from an audio recording" of the sounds made by the clickety clack of a keyboard. Called "acoustical spying," one of the researchers concluded "If we were able to figure this out, it’s likely that people with less honorable intentions can, or have, as well."
