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Mechanical keyboard isn't just annoying, it's also a security risk (techradar.com)
8 points by kyleShropshire on May 9, 2022 | hide | past | favorite | 4 comments


Isn't the same with the classic keyboard?


Yes, but the app the article is talking about seems to specifically require mechanical keyboards. My guess would be that that's just to allow crappier microphones.

A lot of it really depends on what the actual attack scenario is. A malicious actor adding a microphone near an existing machine mostly makes no sense, because hardware keyloggers are just better and easier.

So what we should really be concerned about here is attackers using _existing_ microphones. That could be extending access from a phone to getting access credentials to a desktop, or maybe something like getting access credentials over the phone/zoom by tricking the target into logging in while you're listening.

So it is possible that some keyboards are worse than others for this exploit, because the attacker doesn't get to choose the microphone. But it seems difficult, and fragile, to rely on. A much better idea seems like it would be fixing the entire issue: mute your audio when you type secrets, disable any mics you're not using, and most importantly, use 2fa and password managers to reduce the number of secrets you need to type in general and to reduce the impact of leaking a password.


Is Push-To-Talk the future of video conferencing?


It should be, certainly, but mostly to spare your peers' ears.

Ideally you want hardware, or at least OS-level push-to-talk, the software mute buttons often allow the software/server to listen.




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