Re: Wireless Keyboard Security

From: Kinnell (kinnell.t_at_gmail.com)
Date: 03/23/05

  • Next message: jcr13_at_users.sf.net: "RFC: mechanisms for anonymizing distributed search" 
    Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:09:24 -0600
To: "Badger, Jared" <Jared.Badger@acs-inc.com>

    I wanted to do research on this topic for my undergrad, but alas no
    luck in getting to do it.

    I'm no expert on this so take this with a salt shaker :)

    For Bluetooth devices:
    If I recal the encryption is 128 bit, and I imagine it is the same for others.

    In my opinion the only thing wireless keyboards and mice should be
    used for is a gaming system. I am a firm believer in "if I can see
    it, then I can read it", and with these devices I can atleast sniff
    the air and see your keystrokes. I would say go with corded keyboards
    and mice for security.

    And yes there have been papers written on doing many different types
    of attacks on these devices.

    -Kinnell

    On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:13:16 -0700, Badger, Jared
    <Jared.Badger@acs-inc.com> wrote:
    > Hello All,
    >
    > I was wondering if anybody out there has researched security of wireless
    > keyboards. Although I'm sure many people have very interesting opinions,
    > what I need is solid technical information.
    >
    > SCENARIO:
    >
    > A sneaky eavesdropper, Eve, would like to find out some gossip on her
    > neighbor, Alice. Eve knows that Alice uses Yahoo for her email, and would
    > just love to be able to log in to Alice's Yahoo mail account. But she
    > doesn't know Alice's password. But luck, it seems, may be in Eve's corner,
    > as Alice has recently installed a snazzy new wireless keyboard/mouse combo
    > on her home computer. Eve, using her formidable knowledge of radio and
    > electronics, sets up an antenna to pick up keyboard transmissions from
    > Alice's house. After some persistence, Eve's laptop records a username,
    > alice@yahoo.com and a password, "opensesame". Eve, ecstatic, logs on to
    > Yahoo with the captured password and reads Alice's email, discovering lots
    > of juicy secrets.
    >
    > Although this Alice/Eve scenario is fictional, it seems plausible. For a
    > true story, see:
    >
    > http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,108712,00.asp
    >
    > My job involves reviewing computer security at a bank, and I was very
    > surprised to see that nearly all of the computers at one of my branches are
    > using these wireless mouse/keyboard combos. It seems like this could be a
    > potentially serious security risk, so I would like to do some research on
    > this topic. If these manufacturers have incorporated strong security
    > measures, then I would like to know what they are. Or if not, then it would
    > be better to know than not to know so as to take appropriate precautions.
    > (see the above PCWorld story. Note that only 4000 combinations are used,
    > trivial for a computer to crack) Of particular interest to me are:
    >
    > 1. How possible/easy/difficult is it to eavesdrop and capture keystrokes
    > from a wireless keyboard using passive means only? What equipment/expertise
    > does this require? (I am thinking it would probably take at least a spectrum
    > analyzer, receiver, a laptop, and some custom software) What about taking
    > the keyboard apart and reverse engineering it?
    >
    > 2. How easy/difficult would it be to take control of a computer without
    > having physical access to the keyboard at the console? What
    > equipment/expertise would this require? (Probably at least the same as
    > above, plus a transmitter)
    >
    > One example of a wireless keyboard/mouse combo is displayed here:
    >
    > http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=0
    > 14
    >
    > By entering the following FCC ID's into the FCC website, you can get quite a
    > bit of interesting information.
    >
    > FCC ID's: C3KKB9 (keyboard), C3K1008 (mouse)
    >
    > https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm
    >
    > There are many docs, including photos and lab tests, on the associated
    > pages. For example, FCC docs show that this particular keyboard transmits on
    > a frequency of 27.095 - 27.195 MHz. From the internal photos, it doesn't
    > seem there are enough electronics to perform advanced encryption.
    >
    > Certainly somebody knows how to do this. Has anybody tried? Been successful?
    > Failed? Any information on common manufacturers (Logitech, Microsoft,
    > Kensington, etc.), commonly used encryption/decryption, frequencies,
    > encoding, signal power and range, etc. would be most appreciated.
    >
    > Thanks in advance,
    >
    > Jared Badger, CISSP
    >

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