Are you using a wireless keyboard or mouse? Do you fear of getting hacked? Then you must read this.
A research showed that wireless mouse and keyboards are easily hackable. Yes, you read it correctly. Researchers have shown that cheap keyboard and mouse transmit data over a unencrypted network and can be hacked in some minutes.
The Threat
The vulnerability discovered by researchers of Bastille found that the keyboard can be hacked from a distance of 250 yards easily by using a 2.4 GHz radio antenna easily available at a price of $100.This time the threat is not from key-loggers, which hack wired key-taps but it's from "key-jacks" or "key-sniffers".
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Also read: Protect computer from Memory Leak )
The researchers tested 12 keyboard manufacturers out of which 8 failed the test and hacked, the surprising thing is that the keyboard brands are big names in the hardware market. The eight failed brands are Toshiba, Kensington, HP, Insignia, Radio Shack, General Electric, Anker, and EagleTec.
Models of these wireless keyboard brands failed the test. Two-Third of the brands tested were susceptible to keyboard "Key-sniffer" attacks.
Another shocking thing is that many Keyboard and mouse brands admitted that their keyboard contains the vulnerabilities. But despite knowing these wireless keyboard manufacturers didn't take any strong action.
Why it's a cause for concern?
What if I say that your neighbor can see your bank password the emoji you sent or the project on which you are working for days is in your colleagues drive?It's a cause of major concern as Key-sniffers can hack your keyboard and can steal your private info like passwords, usernames, passphrases, credit card information, debit card information,
Lastpass password.
The characters, words you typed all the information hacked and sent on the unencrypted network can be used to hack into your social accounts, can be used to steal money from your bank account and lots of info about you.
So what you can do to ensure you remain safe?
Safety Tips
Wireless keyboards using Bluetooth technology are found to be safer. So use Bluetooth Keyboards. Also, wireless keyboard and mouse made by brands like Logitech are safer and use advanced security.
On screen keyboards provide the highest level of security for home users. So using an on-screen keyboard at least to type password can give you ample security.
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