We can't trust manufacturers not to build keyboards with undetectable hardware keyloggers now and in the future because the NSA has plenty of money. I say this idea isn't new to them at all and I hope that people in the future will keep taking the different models apart to hack around.
Keyloggers inside everyone's keyboard could be useful to the NSA and FBI who could pay companies to bake them in. When you're suspected of a serious crime for example or you get into serious trouble, you could get your storage devices taken away. Encrypted or not, your keyboard could then reveal passwords if it's the correct model. This even breaks forward secrecy. These tiny computers inside keyboards meant to control light flashing, sound, card reading, and more could possibly also control which keys to record and what to throw away based on repetition... if the keylogger's space is limited. Keylogger functionality can be massive, they can use compression or run through the text file it generated over the years, keep one copy of repeated phrases, and throw away the rest. An attacker could possibly talk to your keyboard through your computer if it runs systemd or Windows assuming the interface to the keylogger can be that convenient.
view the rest of the comments →
[–] luckyguy 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
The minimally fancy keyboard to do that with would not be fancy at all. If it has a micro controller it could do it.
It would need some sort of writable persistent memory, possibly in the chip. Most approches would not include it in the chip but this would consider stealth. Still, looking for a flash memory unit somewhere detatched from the microcontroller would be a tell-tail.
Still, quite a few chips use static ram, which is semi reliable to store data. I wonder how big a buffer would have to be to have 50% chance of a password being in there.