Smashing Security When your mouse turns snitch, and hackers grow a conscience
Oct 8, 2025
Geoff White, an investigative journalist specializing in cybercrime for the BBC, joins to unpack the oddities of modern tech and ransomware. He reveals how seemingly harmless computer mice can eavesdrop on conversations, thanks to innovative research. The dialogue shifts to the curious moral dilemmas faced by ransomware gangs, like their unexpected backtracking after public outcry over a nursery attack. Along the way, Graham shares a life-changing baked potato hack and Geoff recommends a quirky travel book about Paraguay.
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Mouse Sensors Can Eavesdrop
- Modern high-performance optical mice can pick up desk vibrations and act as crude microphones when combined with signal processing.
- Researchers achieved ~80% speaker recognition and ~16.8% word error rate from mouse sensor data.
Websites Can Harvest Mouse Vibrations
- A website can collect mouse movement packets and reconstruct audio waveforms without installing malware.
- This enables large-scale passive surveillance by embedding code on web pages.
Dampen Desk Vibrations
- Use physical isolation like mouse pads or thicker surfaces to dampen vibrations that mice pick up.
- Consider returning to padded mouse mats or insulating your desk to reduce acoustic leakage.
