Laptops more susceptible to having keyboard recorded in quieter areas, like coffee shops, libraries, offices. Previous attempts at keylogging VoIP calls achieved 91.7 percent top-5 accuracy over Skype in 2017 and 74.3 percent accuracy in VoIP calls in 2018.
Only if you leave your mic unmuted.
This is a troubling advancement, they all are, but the methods of countering this specific one are plentiful.
Really, what’s needed is a more robust mute function with a good voice recognition system that automatically cuts off the mic when you’re not speaking. That, and people need to learn to use push to talk.
Also left out of the headline is the fact that this attack was specifically designed to be leveraged against one specific common laptop, a MacBook. Admittedly, if you are using one it can be a concern, but it’s safe to assume that unless your attacker knows the exact model of computer you are using and dedicates serious resources in to building a targeted attack like this, you’re fine.
The tiniest variation will likely dramatically improve your security.
As a cybersecurity researcher, there are plenty of other attacks that are cheaper and easier to implement that you should be concerned about.
Security via having lots of crumbs and hair and crud built up inside your keyboard. Check.
So, just leave it with my kids and dog for 10 minutes?
Yes. Why go to all the trouble of doing very technical things when you can instead do moderately technical but very cunning things?
An old episode of the defunct Reply All podcast comes to mind: “what kind of idiot gets phished?”
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/rnhoww/
How long before they can recreate enough of your keyboard and screen via webcam using the reflections from your glasses / eyeballs?