AI can steal passwords with 95% accuracy by ‘listening’ to keystrokes, alarming study finds

 Hackers could use artificial intelligence tools to steal user passwords with near-perfect accuracy by “listening” to an unsuspecting person’s keystrokes, according to alarming results of a study published earlier this month.

A group of UK-based computer scientists trained an artificial intelligence model to identify the sounds generated by keystrokes on the 2021 version of a MacBook Pro — described as a “popular off-the-shelf laptop.”

When the AI program was enabled on a nearby smartphone, it was able to reproduce the typed password with a whopping 95% accuracy, according to the study results published by Cornell University.

The hacker-friendly AI tool was also extremely accurate while “listening” to typing though the laptop’s microphone during a Zoom video conference.

Researchers said it reproduced the keystrokes with a 93% accuracy – a record for the medium.

The researchers warned that many users are unaware of the risk that bad actors could monitor their typing to breach accounts – a type of cyberattack they called an “acoustic side channel attack.”

Researchers used off-the-shelf products in the study.

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“The ubiquity of keyboard acoustic emanations makes them not only a readily available attack vector, but also prompts victims to underestimate (and therefore not try to hide) their output,” the study said.

“For example, when typing a password, people will regularly hide their screen but will do little to obfuscate their keyboard’s sound.”

To gauge accuracy, the researchers pressed 36 of the laptop’s keys a total of 25 times each, with each press “varying in pressure and finger.”

The AI model could reproduce keystrokes with a 95% accuracy.

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The program was able to “listen” to identifying elements of each key press, such as sound wavelengths. The smartphone, an iPhone 13 mini, was placed 17 centimeters away from the keyboard.

The research was conducted by Joshua Harrison of Durham University, Ehsan Toreini of the University of Surrey and Maryam Mehrnezhad at Royal Holloway University of London.

The possibility of AI tools aiding hackers is just another risk factor for the burgeoning technology.

Researchers said the public is largely unaware of the risk posed by this kind of cyberattack.

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A number of notable experts, ranging from OpenAI founder Sam Altman to billionaire Elon Musk and others, have warned AI could pose a significant danger to humanity without proper guardrails in place.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/15/ai-can-steal-passwords-with-95-accuracy-by-listening-to-keystrokes-alarming-study-finds/

Queens DA, NYPD using new tactic to stop repeat shoplifters

 Shoplifters in Queens may now also get slapped with trespassing notices as part of a new law enforcement initiative that aims to crack down on repeat offenders terrorizing local businesses.

The “innovative” initiative — dubbed the Merchants Business Improvement Program — allows business owners to get restraining orders against suspects who repeatedly come into their stores and steal or harass workers, officials said Tuesday.

“With the high rate of retail theft we are seeing throughout the city, it is absolutely essential that we keep fighting back,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in statement announcing the borough-wide expansion of the pilot program.

“We are not going to allow a small group of individuals to terrorize shop keepers, their employees and customers and to disrupt our local economy,” Katz said, adding, “We will not allow that to happen, because when our local businesses thrive, our communities thrive.”

Shoplifting has surged in the Big Apple over the last few years — with businesses in Queens being hit particularly hard.

Just weeks ago, a brazen thief was captured on camera using a blowtorch inside an East Elmhurst Walgreens to burn off the locks of security cases protecting the store’s merch.

The thief pulled the blowtorch in the middle of the day to assist in the shoplifting incident.

Officials believe the additional trespass charge will deter shoplifters from targetting the same stores repeatedly.

“Shoplifting is absolutely unacceptable levels, I’m not even going to sit here and say anything different,” Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri told The Post in a recent interview.

“The challenge is it’s a crime driven by recidivism,” he said. “This year, 350 unique people account for 30% of all our shoplifting arrests.”

The pilot program launched in June 2021 in three NYPD precincts in Jamaica, Flushing and Astoria, with a total 142 stores signing up.

Since then, 83 sticky-fingered suspects were formally told they’d be arrested for trespassing if they returned to a store — five of whom were then busted for violating the orders of protection, the DA’s office said.

Queens DA Melinda Katz believes the program will help deter brazen thieves.

Stephen Yang

“It’s an initiative that activates the best of our intelligence-driven policing strategies to further reduce crime and improve the quality of life for all who live in, work in, and visit the great borough of Queens,” said Assistant Chief Kevin Williams, the commanding officer of Queens Borough South.

One key hurdle has been getting business owners, who have felt helpless in preventing shoplifting, to participate in securing the proper paperwork so cops can issue the trespassing notices to those stealing or being otherwise disruptive in their stores.

But officials are hopeful that Neighborhood Coordination Officers can get more store owners to sign on.

Business owners who have participated in the program and were quoted in the DA’s office press release hailed the initiative.

“Since I enrolled in the program and have been working with the police and the Queens DA’s office, my store has been much safer, and I have not experienced another incident,” said Mee Mee Xie, owner of Wong Nutrition in Flushing.

Fed up shopowners have sometimes taken matters into their own hands, posting photos of people they say stole from their stores.

(Kevin C. Downs for The New York Post )

Lipetri said that while shoplifting remains a serious problem, some progress has been made.

Cops have seen a 5% dip in shoplifting complaints this year, along with a 20% uptick in arrests, according to NYPD data.

But the chief said the tally of arrests could be higher with some help from shop owners — and he urged them to quickly report the crimes.

Cops are twice as likely to make an arrest in a shoplifting case if the crime is reported the same day, compared to if there’s a delay, Lipetri said.

Around 40% of shoplifters are arrested when 911 is called the same day, he said.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/15/cops-prosecutors-using-new-tactic-to-stop-nyc-shoplifters/

Impel Pharma says Chapter 11 bankruptcy possible; down 30%

  Impel Pharma said it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if a potential forbearance and restructuring of a senior credit agreement cannot be negotiated. 

https://www.stck.pro/news/IMPL/58964206/

Feinstein sues trustees in husband’s estate, alleges financial elder abuse

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is suing to oust the trustees in her late husband’s estate in a bitter feud, alleging elder financial abuse.

The 90-year-old senator filed the suit on Aug. 8, accusing the co-trustees of “wrongfully withholding distributions to which Trust entitles her in bad faith and diverting assets that they should have used to fund” her sub-trust.

Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, was the former president of equity investment management fund Blum Capital. He died in February of last year with a net worth reportedly close to $1 billion.

Feinstein is calling for a temporary trustee to handle Blum’s trust so that she can gain access to some of those funds.

She has bestowed power of attorney to her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, who pushed the suit on her behalf.

The suit, which was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, was slapped against Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck, and Verett Mims, who are all co-trustees for the estate.

It further alleged that the trustees “funded gifts to Blum’s daughters or forgiven their indebtedness” without giving her the proper notice.

A lawyer for Klein and Scholvinck told the news outlet that they “never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein.”

However, Feinstein’s suit countered that was deceitful, alleging that “trustees have failed to respond to any requests for disbursements, which is a de facto denial.”

Dianne Feinstein has served in the Senate since the 1990s.

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Back in March, Feinstein was informed that Blum’s estate lacked liquidity, which was why she wasn’t accruing funds, per court filings.

Klein previously stated in a separate filing that she was netting $125,000 each quarter due to a lawsuit she filed in June.

The senator’s suit further contended that she’s been unable to get a full accounting of the estate.

Klein had emphasized the “exceptionally complex” nature of Blum’s estate.

Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum married in 1980.

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Feinstein has also filed two separate lawsuits in June and July, raising complaints about her lack of access to her late husband’s trust, with hearings in the cases slated for Aug. 21 and Sept. 5 respectively.

The long-serving California senator has announced that she won’t vie for reelection in 2024, opening the floodgates to a bitterly contentious Democratic primary process.

The senator has appeared confused during some Senate proceedings over recent months.

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As she continues to serve out her term, Feinstein, who is the oldest sitting lawmaker in either chamber of Congress, has been plagued by mental lapses.

At one point during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last month, an aide and one of her colleagues had to prompt her to vote “aye” on the annual defense spending bill.

Her prolonged absence from the Senate between February and May sparked Democratic backlash due to her perch on the Judiciary Committee.

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She was also hospitalized earlier this year after a bout with shingles and was absent from the Senate for about three months before returning in May.

Last Tuesday, she was briefly hospitalized as a precaution after a fall in her San Francisco home that left her uninjured.

The Senate is currently on recess and set to return on Sept. 5.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/15/feinstein-sues-trustees-in-husbands-estate-alleges-financial-elder-abuse/