Researchers Use Smartwatch To Spy What Users Are Typing On a Keyboard

An anonymous reader writes: Researchers have created an app that follows the micro-movements of your smartwatch and is able to detect what keys you're pressing with your left hand, and guess what words you may be typing on a keyboard. The app developed for the Motion Leaks (MoLe) project only works on a Samsung Gear Live smartwatch, but researchers say that in theory, a similar app could be developed for other smartwatch makes and models.

Comments

eagle system

[nospam007]

I doubt that. I'm using the eagle system, circling over the keyboard until I detect the prey (right key) and then I let it fall down on it (or near it) naturally always with the same finger.
It should be easier with touch typists.

Re:eagle system

[viperidaenz]

Is that a variation on the "hunt and peck" method?

Re:eagle system

[Jamu]

Similar, but the eagle system is more majestic.

Re:eagle system

[I'm New Around Here]

I've seen them hunt rabbits, but I've never seen them hunt carrions. For that matter, I've never seen that animal. Is it related to the nauga?

Re:eagle system

[GrumpySteen]

Majestic as fuck

One Handed Typing Activies

[Canth7]

Time to add taking off that watch in addition to firing up VPN and private browsing before visiting your favorite adult sites now.

Re:One Handed Typing Activies

[Zanadou]

Take the computers and fire them into space. That's how you get security.

"The three golden rules to ensure computer security are: do not own a computer; do not power it on; and do not use it." -Robert Morris Sr

Re:One Handed Typing Activies

[ls671]

I wonder text it detects when you actually look at the adult site.

Re:One Handed Typing Activies

[RabidReindeer]

Eventually mandatory security procedure will be to use all computers while naked, in a soundproof room with no lighting, electrical supply, gas supply, A/C or other ventilation. There will be no networks, communications or transmission media, nor any transmission methods. There shall be no WiFi, no RF, no flag waving or gesturing. Computers will have no ports, no hardware interfaces, no functionality, and cannot be in the same room as the operator. The computers must also be inaccessible to any third party that isn't approved by the organization. The approval process is strict enough so as to prevent anyone ever becoming an approved maintenance contractor.

Sounds like the TSA's wet dream for flyers.

Re:One Handed Typing Activies

[Seq]

But how are you supposed to increase your "step" count?

There has to be a joke in here somewhere

[Anonymous Coward]

fap fap guess the keys now

Acoustic is better

[Dan East]

This is an interesting although convoluted method to determine what is being typed. It has already been demonstrated that the acoustics from typing can be used to identify what is being typed. Most smart watches have microphones. It makes more sense to use the microphone right next to the keyboard to capture very high quality audio so close to the source and then analyze it acoustically to determine what was typed (which captures data from BOTH hands). It will also work if the user takes off their watch and lays it nearby.

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ty...

Re:Acoustic is better

[fisted]

It only makes more sense if you ignore that you need to create a detailed accoustic profile of that exact keyboard in that exact position before you can interpret the noise...

Re:Acoustic is better

[Dan East]

Obviously you didn't read the research paper I referenced.

In this paper we argue that a labeled training sample requirement is unnecessary
for an attacker. This implies keyboard emanation attacks are more serious than
previous work suggests.

We built a prototype that can bootstrap the recognizer from about 10 minutes of
English text typing, using about 30 minutes of computation on a desktop computer
with a Pentium IV 3.0G CPU and 1GB of memory. After the bootstrap step, it
could recognize language-independent keystrokes in real time, including random
keystrokes occurring in passwords, with an accuracy rate of about 90%.

Of course sound can be recorded and thus post-processed whenever a large enough corpus has been captured. Thus you could type for small 1 minute periods at a time over the course of days, and once 10 minutes worth of recordings had been captured from that specific keyboard, it could be analyzed, and after that interpreted in real-time if desired.

Fooled ya!

[AndyKron]

I wear my watch on my RIGHT hand. Ha Ha!

Re:Fooled ya!

[I'm New Around Here]

Fool! You think these scientists haven't thought of that? Of course they have.

The interesting part is that it still captures what the left hand is doing. Some weird entanglement issue, I believe.

Re:Fooled ya!

[Deep Esophagus]

You mean people still wear watches? How archaic! They'd have to record the micro-movements of my pants pocket where I keep my cell phone, which is the only thing I carry to tell time.

Re:Fooled ya!

[ArsenneLupin]

They'd have to record the micro-movements of my pants pocket where I keep my cell phone

Well, if your browsing one of those sites, your "pant pocket"'s movements won't be micro...

Portable keyboard

[Anonymous Coward]

Why aren't they using this to make a virtual keyboard? Just wear two wrist bands and you can type on any surface.

Don't dig too deep, you won't like what you see

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Researchers have created an app that follows the micro-movements of your smartwatch and is able to detect what keys you're pressing with your left hand...

I think they'll detect other kinds of movements made with the left hand.

In before fap fap...

[Known Nutter]

Damn... too late. :(

Re:In before fap fap...

[ArsenneLupin]

Well, mentioning "left hand" in the summary was asking for that...

Smart watches

[penguinoid]

Smarter than their owner...

Re: Technique already devised to thwart app

[Futurepower(R)]

The watch is called "smart", but those who wear them are dumb?

another reason

[sad_]

and that's another reason not to buy a smartwatch.
today it's only done by researchers, i'm sure it will stay that way.
as if all those smartphone apps aren't spying enough already.

Re:Technique already devised to thwart app

[gfxguy]

Ha... guy at work was showing off his smart watch - all the different dials he could put to show what time it was. Nothing useful, but the flash could run around the dial instead of a second hand. Bravo.

Dvorak Foils This!

[Agent0013]

Ha! Let's see them get my keystrokes! I use Dvorak!