A team of researchers has created a new form of side-channel acoustic attack that surpasses the limitations of other similar threats. This attack concentrates on a user's typing pattern in a realistic environment, while also considering ambient noise.
Acoustic side-channel attacks are a type of cyber threat that exploits unintentional sounds emitted by electronic devices during use to extract sensitive information. For instance, when entering a password using a computer keyboard, these attacks can record the sound of each keystroke. Concerningly, they can bypass other security measures installed on the device, such as unlock keys or encryption, and can be executed remotely without requiring physical access to the target computer.
Regarding keyboards, cybercriminals have employed various techniques, including the 'keyboard eavesdropping keylogging attack'. This attack uses a program with an algorithm that recognises the sounds of keystrokes. Other variants use statistical analysis, signal processing, and time differences to extract information. However, researchers at Augusta University in Georgia, US, have designed a new attack that stands out by considering ambient noise in a realistic scenario. According to their study, they achieved an average success rate of 43% in all cases.