hat you can do to protect yourself
The main vulnerability of this attack lies in the VOIP software widely used by companies and individuals alike to communicate. When you use software like Skype, your audio is obviously transmitted to your call partners. This audio, clearly, includes audio of you typing. This typing could be deciphered using machine learning and inference attacks, and any attacker on the call could decipher some or all of what is being typed. Of course, some of this typed text may include passwords or other sensitive information that an attacker may want. Other vulnerabilities include any situation where someone may be able to covertly record your keystrokes. For example, someone may record you typing in person by using their phone without you knowing.
So, to protect yourself, be sure that you have a second factor authenticating you in important security applications. Most login interfaces such as Gmail offer 2-factor authentication. Be sure that this is enabled, and your password will not be the only factor in your login. This reduces the risk of attackers obtaining your password. Additionally, of course, using good password practices will make it harder for inference attacks to supplement deep learning in acquiring your password. Finally, you could certainly reduce the risk of audio-based attacks by not typing in passwords when on VOIP calls.
Certainly, there isn’t much to do to mitigate the risk of your typing audio being eavesdropped. The implications that deep learning have on audio-based password attacks are definitely scary. It’s a fact that neural networks might mean that your password is worthless, and they’re only getting stronger. The future of artificial intelligence will change not only modern authentication systems, but it will change society in ways we can’t even imagine. The only thing we can do in response is be aware and adapt.
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