HackerGPT: AI can now steal passwords, banking details, by ‘listening’ to how you type; Here’s how

A team of researchers at Cornell University have made a surprising revelation regarding how artificial intelligence (AI) tools can illicitly obtain your personal information, such as passwords, your banking details and a plethora of other data.

They’ve uncovered a method using which most AI bots are capable of eavesdropping on the auditory signals of your keystrokes while typing on a computer, enabling it to illicitly access passwords and other things that you might type.

What’s even more worrisome is that most of the commonly used AI bot have a very impressive success rate. They can predict even the most complex of passwords with up to 95 per cent accuracy.

How does the hack work
The team at Cornell University trained an AI model by using the auditory patterns of keystrokes. Once it was trained, the AI model made an algorithm that would work each time you replaced a keyboard. Because of this, no matter what kind of keyboard you use, or how frequently you change your password, the AI bot will figure out eventually what exactly have you set up as your password.

The researchers then deployed their modified AI bot on a nearby mobile device equipped with a microphone. It was able to listen to the sounds produced by keystrokes on a MacBook Pro and skillfully mimic them.

The researchers also conducted accuracy tests on the AI during virtual meetings on platforms such as Zoom and Skype. Remarkably, the AI demonstrated the capability to accurately reproduce keystrokes even in the midst of online conferencing sessions.

It might be assumed that the volume of keyboard sounds would influence the attack’s precision. However, the AI model is focused on intricacies such as waveform, intensity, and temporal aspects of each keystroke. Even minute variations in an individual’s typing style are meticulously accounted for by the AI system.

How to protect yourself in a real-life situation
In practical situations, this type of attack could be executed via malicious software present on a neighbouring device equipped with a microphone. This malware would gather the auditory patterns of your keystrokes and employ AI to decode your password information. Several measures to safeguard yourself include:

Biometric Solutions: Make use of functionalities such as Windows Hello and Touch ID, enabling you to bypass the need for typing passwords altogether.

Password Managers: Opt for a password manager tool to enhance security, offering the advantages of robust protection and the utilization of randomized passwords.