Wireless Mice: A Gateway for Hackers

A startup technology company claims that wireless mice can pose serious security risks for their users. According to Reuters, Bestyle, a cybersecurity startup based in San Francisco, believes that wireless mice from companies like HP, Lenovo, Amazon, and Dell, which use unencrypted signals to communicate with computers, could provide a loophole for hackers to infiltrate the data of billions of computers. Neulion, a cybersecurity researcher at Bestyle, states, "These companies do not encrypt the data traffic generated by the mice. This allows hackers to send unencrypted data to 'dongles' and claim that this information is sent by a keyboard. Thus, with just one click, they can access the computer's data. It's like these hackers are sitting in front of your computer and figuring out what you have inside it." Bestyle explains that a hacker only needs an antenna, a computer chip (called a dongle), and a simple line of code to 'deceive' your computer and gain access under the guise of a wireless mouse or keyboard. "Therefore, a hacker can send information to the dongle, pretend it is a mouse, but instruct the keyboard to type a letter or letters." Chris Roland, one of the founders of Bestyle, says, "If we send a series of unencrypted commands through a wireless mouse to the keyboard, it can start typing on our computer at a speed of a thousand words per minute." At this speed, hackers can take control of your entire computer in less than a few seconds. Roland mentions that companies have become very meticulous about encrypting their websites and networks, but not all internet traffic occurs through networks. According to him, it is now time for companies to take hardware and wireless security risks seriously, especially as we live in a world where smartphones can transfer vast amounts of information in a fraction of a second.