Wire != Security

Welp, after this post, I will no longer be using a keyboard. These people have found a way to pick up (and decode) the electromagnetic emanations of the signals that run through the wire in a wired keyboard from the next room!

Here's the non-engineering version (engineers probably shouldn't read this):
Your computer and your keyboard are connected with basically what amounts to two cups and a string. When the keyboard wants to send a signal, say an "f", to the computer, it picks up the cup and screams "f!" The computer hears this, and puts an "f" on the screen. The problem with this is that the screaming makes noise all along the string and someone who is standing near the string can hear it.

So what does that mean for you? Well, if you type your password on your wired keyboard, someone with know-how can hear the screams of each letter and in effect listen to your password.


Here are a couple of videos showing it in action.

Man this stuff is scary.