Keystroke Detection by Exploiting Unintended RF Emission from Repaired USB Keyboards
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866916925845536768 |
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| author | Bari, Md Faizul Xie, Yi Choudhury, Meghna Roy Sen, Shreyas |
| author_facet | Bari, Md Faizul Xie, Yi Choudhury, Meghna Roy Sen, Shreyas |
| contents | Electronic devices and cables inadvertently emit RF emissions as a byproduct of signal processing and/or transmission. Labeled as electromagnetic emanations, they form an EM side-channel for data leakage. Previously, it was believed that such leakage could be contained within a facility since they are weak signals with a short transmission range. However, in the preliminary version of this work [1], we found that the traditional cable repairing process forms a tiny monopole antenna that helps emanations transmit over a long range. Experimentation with three types of cables revealed that emanations from repaired cables remain detectable even at >4 m and can penetrate a 14 cm thick concrete wall. In this extended version, we show that such emanation can be exploited at a long distance for information extraction by detecting keystrokes typed on a repaired USB keyboard. By collecting data for 70 different keystrokes at different distances from the target in 3 diverse environments (open space, a corridor outside an office room, and outside a building) and developing an efficient detection algorithm, ~100% keystroke detection accuracy has been achieved up to 12 m distance, which is the highest reported accuracy at such a long range for USB keyboards in the literature. The effect of two experimental factors, interference and human-body coupling, has been investigated thoroughly. Along with exploring the vulnerability, multi-layer external metal shielding during the repairing process as a possible remedy has been explored. This work exposes a new attack surface caused by hardware modification, its exploitation, and potential countermeasures. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_00043 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Keystroke Detection by Exploiting Unintended RF Emission from Repaired USB Keyboards Bari, Md Faizul Xie, Yi Choudhury, Meghna Roy Sen, Shreyas Cryptography and Security Electronic devices and cables inadvertently emit RF emissions as a byproduct of signal processing and/or transmission. Labeled as electromagnetic emanations, they form an EM side-channel for data leakage. Previously, it was believed that such leakage could be contained within a facility since they are weak signals with a short transmission range. However, in the preliminary version of this work [1], we found that the traditional cable repairing process forms a tiny monopole antenna that helps emanations transmit over a long range. Experimentation with three types of cables revealed that emanations from repaired cables remain detectable even at >4 m and can penetrate a 14 cm thick concrete wall. In this extended version, we show that such emanation can be exploited at a long distance for information extraction by detecting keystrokes typed on a repaired USB keyboard. By collecting data for 70 different keystrokes at different distances from the target in 3 diverse environments (open space, a corridor outside an office room, and outside a building) and developing an efficient detection algorithm, ~100% keystroke detection accuracy has been achieved up to 12 m distance, which is the highest reported accuracy at such a long range for USB keyboards in the literature. The effect of two experimental factors, interference and human-body coupling, has been investigated thoroughly. Along with exploring the vulnerability, multi-layer external metal shielding during the repairing process as a possible remedy has been explored. This work exposes a new attack surface caused by hardware modification, its exploitation, and potential countermeasures. |
| title | Keystroke Detection by Exploiting Unintended RF Emission from Repaired USB Keyboards |
| topic | Cryptography and Security |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00043 |