Researchers in the UK claim to have translated the sound of laptop keystrokes into their corresponding letters with 95 percent accuracy in some cases.
That 95 percent figure was achieved with nothing but a nearby iPhone. Remote methods are just as dangerous: over Zoom, the accuracy of recorded keystrokes only dropped to 93 percent, while Skype calls were still 91.7 percent accurate.
In other words, this is a side channel attack with considerable accuracy, minimal technical requirements, and a ubiquitous data exfiltration point: Microphones, which are everywhere from our laptops, to our wrists, to the very rooms we work in.
It would eliminate someone being able to get your username or password via this method though. Because you never have to type them in.
With my MacBook I can use either touchid or my watch to automatically unlock it, so I don’t even have to type my password in to get into my laptop. And then I use touchid and Keychain for all my passwords so I never have to type those in either.