Hackers Can Use Wi-Fi Signals To Know What You Are Typing

It is now possible to detect the keystrokes using the Wifi Signals, Scientists from Michigan State University and the Nanjing University in China have discovered a method that Monitors your keystrokes using Wifi Signals.

Hackers Can Use Wi-Fi Signals To Know What You Are Typing

You think Keystrokes are private on your computer? You need to think again, normally users type passwords, emails and instant messages, Social security number, credit card numbers and password and much more private information.

We have recently seen Researchers from Binghamton University in the US managed to find out that hackers can easily exploit smartwatches or any other fitness tracker devices to steal ATM/Credit Card PIN or passwords.

Researchers from Michigan state University and the Nanjing Universty successfully built a keystroke recognition system which they call WiKey which can detect keystrokes using the Wi-Fi signals from a plain router.

According to Softpedia, there are total two ways how this could be accomplished

1) In WiKey researchers employed off-the-shelf equipment like TP-Link TL-WR1043ND WiFi router and a Lenovo X200 laptop. They used the Router’s MIMO ( Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) capabilities to gather the tiny shifts in Wifi Signals which refer to a set of functions that allow each of the antennas to send multiple Wi-Fi signals on the same radio channel.

Next, they used Multiple Wi-Fi signals like a scanner and swept and swept the room to create a map of the environment. That’s why WiKey works in a room which has less movement.

2) The second technique also needs WiKey to detect key strokes. Whenever any person stands in front of the laptop or computer and starts typing. WiKey is capable of picking up disruptions in the WiFi signals caused by the tiny shift of the user’s hand, finger and keys.

These two techniques have proven to be very deadly if it was in the hands of any skilled hacker. The accuracy to detect the keystroke varies between 77% to 97.5%. However, the accuracy to detect the keystrokes were 77.43% for those users who have the ability to type faster.