Alan Mathai
Artificial Intelligence has now developed an ear for the unique sound of your keystrokes, and it’s using this ability to crack your passwords with a staggering 95% accuracy.
Researchers from Cornell University, including Joshua Harrison, Ehsan Toreni, and Maryam Mehrnezhad, have been the puppet masters behind this AI model. They’ve trained their AI to recognize the unique sound each key makes when pressed. Although, the AI needs to be specifically trained for each keyboard model, making this a highly specialized form of hacking.
The team used a MacBook Pro for their experiment, pressing each of the 36 keys 25 times. This allowed the AI to associate each unique sound with its corresponding key. Resulting developing a potential new form of hacking that could decipher your passwords just by listening to your typing, whether in person or even through a Zoom call.
The researchers found that mechanical keyboards, with their distinctive click-clack sound, were the easiest for the AI to decipher. However, even membrane keyboards weren’t safe from this AI’s prying ears.
But don’t panic just yet. The researchers also found that certain techniques could dramatically decrease the AI’s accuracy. Changing your typing style or using software that produces extra noise or white noise can help mask your keystrokes.
