Hackers are now using AI to steal passwords. With this new technique, they only need to listen to keystroke sounds recorded over Zoom.
A new study revealed that using artificial intelligence gives hackers over 90% accuracy when stealing passwords.
Hackers Now Use AI to Steal Passwords With Over 90% Accuracy
In this photo illustration, a password log-in box is projected onto the face of a woman on August 09, 2017 in London, England. With so many areas of modern life requiring identity verification, online security remains a constant concern, especially following the recent spate of global hacks.
There's no denying that the growth of AI benefits companies and consumers in many ways. Unfortunately, the rise of artificial intelligence also helps criminals, especially hackers.
According to Business Insider, a group of experts affiliated with Durham University conducted a new study to show how hackers take advantage of AI.
They said that AI could be used to decipher keystrokes from a recording of a MacBook's keystrokes via Zoom. Researchers added that this method has a 93% accuracy rate.
This efficiency increases to 95% when keystrokes are recorded using an iPhone 13 mini. Because of AI, researchers said that acoustic side-channel attacks are increasing further, becoming a major threat to keyboards.
For those unfamiliar with this hacking method, it is a technique that malicious actors use to exploit information, such as the computer's power status and the keystroke sounds it makes. This hacking method allows them to do this without directly breaching the system's code.
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How to Protect Your Passwords?
Participant hold their laptops in front of an illuminated wall at the annual Chaos Computer Club (CCC) computer hackers' congress, called 29C3, on December 28, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. The 29th Chaos Communication Congress (29C3) attracts hundreds of participants worldwide annually to engage in workshops and lectures discussing the role of technology in society and its future.
Toms Guide reported that using different typing styles and randomized passwords could help prevent hackers from using their acoustic side-channel attacks. Aside from this, having white noise or software-based keystroke audio filters could also help.
But, Durham University-affiliated researchers said that the best thing users can do is to get the best password managers. Doing this will allow them to autofill their passwords when opening online accounts. Since they no longer need to type in their passcodes, hackers can't listen to their keystrokes that easily.
Aside from these safety methods, you can also use Zoom's background noise suppression feature.
"Zoom users can also configure our background noise suppression feature to a higher setting, mute their microphone by default when joining a meeting, and mute their microphone when typing," explained a Zoom spokesperson.
If you want to learn more details on how you can protect your passwords from hackers using acoustic side-channel attacks, you can visit this link.
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