FBI Warns Against KeySweeper – The Latest Wireless Keyloggers

Security puts people at risk on what appears to be a daily basis and now the FBI is warning about a whole new type of security risk. You may think that your password gives people access to all your data, or how about downloading that malware or nasty ransomware that we hear about all the time, but what happens when your keyboard gives up all of your secrets? The latest warning from the FBI warns against just that, keyloggers which focus on intercepting wireless keyboards.

The notification warns against the KeySweeper, a device that looks completely harmless as it appears like a USB charging plug but is more than malicious with the ability to harvest your keystrokes from a range of wireless keyboards. The device could be placed in an office or secure area and intercept your information before it even reaches your computer.

The KeySweeper targets Microsoft wireless keyboards by decrypting the radio signals from the keyboard. Hidden in the innocent USB charger body is an SIM card that sends the data over the devices mobile internet access. With a backup battery in case you unplug the wireless charger, the device can last even after you unplug the device.

The KeySweeper targets Microsoft keyboards prior to 2011 because they didn’t use Advanced Encryption Standards and it was before Microsoft started using Bluetooth keyboards, both of which makes it harder to intercept your keys strokes. With devices like this being seen as low-key, many companies may still utilise Microsoft keyboards at a risk to their company without knowledge that something as innocent as your phone charger could be stealing your secrets.