AI can steal passwords with 95% accuracy by ‘listening’ to keystrokes

[Kamaji]

AI can steal passwords with 95% accuracy by ‘listening’ to keystrokes, alarming study finds

By Thomas Barrabi
August 15, 2023

Hackers could use artificial intelligence tools to steal user passwords with near-perfect accuracy by “listening” to an unsuspecting person’s keystrokes, according to alarming results of a study published earlier this month.

A group of UK-based computer scientists trained an artificial intelligence model to identify the sounds generated by keystrokes on the 2021 version of a MacBook Pro — described as a “popular off-the-shelf laptop.”

When the AI program was enabled on a nearby smartphone, it was able to reproduce the typed password with a whopping 95% accuracy, according to the study results published by Cornell University.

The hacker-friendly AI tool was also extremely accurate while “listening” to typing though the laptop’s microphone during a Zoom video conference.

Researchers said it reproduced the keystrokes with a 93% accuracy – a record for the medium.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/15/ai-can-steal-passwords-with-95-accuracy-by-listening-to-keystrokes-alarming-study-finds/

[Polly Ticks]

Interesting.  I wonder if that applies only to touch typing, or whether it's the same level of risk for typists using the Columbus method.  Or for something in-between -- like my husband using only the index and middle fingers of both hands.