Can Your Smartphone Be Used As a Keylogger?

Raise your [virtual] hand if you put your cellphone on the desk next to your computer while you’re on it.

If you do, you may be a little creeped out to learn that a Georgia Tech research team recently found a way to use the accelerometer in your smartphone to judge your keystrokes based on the vibrations caused by typing.

Worse yet, is that keystrokes typed can be deciphered with an 80 % accuracy.

So tell me, have you moved your smartphone away from your keyboard yet?

There’s no need to panic just yet. It would take quite a bit of work to actually determine what you’re typing – and the eavesdropper would fare better if they had an idea of the contents beforehand.

Still, the possibility is there for your iPhone – or other smartphone to work against you should you download a seemingly innocent app only to have it start to secretly listen in on your typed conversations with the help of your phone’s accelerometer.

Normally the accelerometer serves its purpose by sensing when the phone is moved or tilted, which is used by applications in order to flip the image – or page – currently being viewed to be presented in the right manner. Since there was no reason to believe the accelerometer could be used in such a way, no safeguards were put in place to prevent it.

The research done by the Georgia Tech team involved using an iPhone 4, but any smartphone made within the last 2 years would be sophisticated enough to be used in this type of attack.

Although there’s no real threat to your phone acting as a keylogger for the time being, the possibility is there – and now for all to know.

If you’re really worried about your smartphone listening in on you, it’s suggested that you keep your phone over 2 feet away from the keyboard – or off of the desktop altogether. Another way to kill off your smartphone’s listening capability would be to invest in a stone-top desk, eliminating keyboard vibrations altogether.

For more info, check out the press release from Georgia Tech here.

Photo Credit: John Larsson

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