Setting A New Standard In Wireless Peripheral Security

At the far end of the endpoint

The shift to WFH made the laptop the centerpiece of the remote user experience. While laptops are great for mobility, the compact keyboards and trackpads aren’t ideal for productive work for extended periods of time.

Wireless mice and keyboards offer a flexible solution that gives employees the freedom to position their input devices for comfort without cluttering their workspaces. So, as the number of remote endpoint devices in the field increased, the number of wireless mice and keyboards did as well.

In some cases, companies provide employees with a specific combination (or choice of combinations) of devices, or employees might procure the mouse and keyboard on their own.

The connectivity technology behind these wireless connections can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, both in terms of performance and security, which is why IT teams should be taking a second look at what’s in their fleet.

Finding the weakest link

Using readily accessible, inexpensive radio technology and about 15 lines of code, hackers can take control of vulnerable wireless components from up to several hundred feet away through a class of vulnerabilities known as “MouseJack.”

First identified by Bastille Networks in 2016, MouseJack allows bad actors to inject keystrokes as a spoofed mouse or keyboard, or hackers can force-pair an illegitimate mouse or keyboard to the endpoint device.“Wireless peripheral hijacking: MouseJack attacks explained,” Cybersecurity Watch blog, crowe.com, January 22, 2021 And, once the hacker has control of a trusted device, they can begin to gather information or credentials to launch a separate line of attack.

Even though MouseJack has been around for a while, devices on the market today may still be susceptible. Given that the average employee has access to more than 17 million company files,“What’s next for remote work: An analysis of 2,000 tasks, 800 jobs, and nine countries,” McKinsey Global Institute, mckinsey.com, November 2020 it’s easy to see how this often-overlooked vulnerability can have serious consequences.

Implementing security features in the human interface/endpoint connection

To help prevent attacks on wireless mice and keyboards, IT teams must ensure that the connections used by these devices are as secure as possible. The first step is making sure all devices are up to date on firmware and that the connections they establish are encrypted. In addition:

• For devices that utilize Bluetooth^®, the connection should utilize Security Mode 1, Level 4 (Secure Connections Only mode), which is FIPS compliant. FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) is a set of data security and computer system standards created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Computer Security Division and applies to computer systems for non-military government agencies and government contractors.
   
• For devices that connect via a USB dongle, look for an anti-rollback feature for device firmware upgrades (DFUs) that are based on security. This helps ensure that critical security patches aren’t accidentally removed while still allowing for rollbacks of non-security-related updates.