It’s reading week, and there is a maths assignment to be done, with the following brief:

Please hand in printed solutions via a computer.

This is what sits in front of me as I do just that:

Who ever heard of a WYSIWYG anyway?

My brain hurts.

I noticed this anti-lisbon poster sitting high on a lamp-post the other night (or more accurately, the other morning) as I walked home through Rathmines.

Is this a joke?

No really. Is this a joke?

Do you use something akin to the above? Isn’t the lack of wires so convenient? I thought so, at least until I read this report from remote-exploit.org, which highlights the pathetic ‘encryption’ which these systems usually employ.

Apart from some early models, which used infrared ports, the vast majority of today’s wireless keyboards runs over RF signals at various frequencies, (as well as bluetooth in some cases). It’s fast, it’s cheap, and it’s reasonably reliable, but the problem is that, like any wireless signal, it’s inherently insecure. Apparently, most wireless keyboards use very basic 8-bit encryption, and (surprise surprise) on Microsoft models, theoretically there are only 256 possible keys.

So, when you get back from PC World with your keyboard with its impressive 20-foot range, beware. Really, all that stands between your keystrokes and an attacker recording them is some sort of packet sniffer, a bit of brute force, and patience.