News You Can Bruise for 2008 May 12 (entry 0)

(4) Mon May 12 2008 21:52 Keyboard Snoops: I'm interested in buying a wireless keyboard but it just seems like asking for trouble. They don't use very strong crypto. But nobody really seems to care. Any opinions?

Comments:

Posted by Paul Wright at Tue May 13 2008 05:27

Bluetooth keyboards use stronger encryption. They tend to be more expensive, though.

Full disclosure: I work for a company that makes Bluetooth radios.

Posted by Leonard at Tue May 13 2008 09:08

I've not seen much evidence that Bluetooth keyboards work well with Linux. Can you speculate?

Posted by drewp at Tue May 13 2008 23:51

So what's your proposed scenario where a bluetooth keyboard is the weakest security link? Are we talking about a computer in a house with windows to the outside, neighbors who know much less about computers than you do, very little high-value data, and all the other usual parameters?

Posted by Leonard at Wed May 14 2008 09:14

I'm talking about a scenario where a *non-Bluetooth* wireless keyboard is the weakest security link. People seem pretty cavalier about them but it looks about as secure as installing a keylogger and hoping no one takes the keylogger.

I ended up buying another wired keyboard because I don't want to spend $100+ on a Bluetooth keyboard. I'd rather have a regular keyboard and Mario Kart.