[arch-general] [OffTopic] Wireless keyboard Security

[Ng Oon-Ee]

On Mon, 2010-09-06 at 11:38 +0200, Cédric Girard wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 8:48 AM, Partha Chowdhury <partha at gmx.us> wrote:
> 
> > Recently I am looking for an ergonomic keyboard to replace my old
> > samsung pleomax keyboard. I wanted to buy microsoft natural ergonomic
> > keyboard 4000 but that is not in the market and the only other keyboard
> > I find is logitech ergonomic keyboard K350.The keyboard is very
> > comfortable to type and works out-of-the box with linux. But the thing
> > is that it is wireless and after a search of "wireless keyboard
> > security" on google i am a bit paranoid about using any wireless
> > keyboard.Also I did not find any encryption option if used by the
> > keyboard while using the logitech provided setpoint software on windows
> > XP and logitech site does not mention if the keyboard uses
> > encryption.Does this keyboard uses some hardware in-built encryption
> > that logitech does not divulge ?
> >
> > If others on the list are using wireless keyboard, what are your
> > experiences and recommendations ?
> >
> 
> 
> Are you working on an environment where potentials "spy" could be close
> enough to spy on your wireless keyboard typing ? Then you should be afraid
> of potential "over the shoulder" spying as well.
> Wireless keyboard have a limited range. If someone is able to catch this
> signal then it probably won't matter because there would be easier ways to
> spy on you.
> 
> --
> Cédric Girard

I was intrigued by this topic so I did a quick google search. The
general conclusion seems to be that the receiving range can be much
further than the standard 5-15 m if you have purpose-built antennas,
since typical wireless keyboard receivers don't.