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• 'Mouse-Jacking'? Yes, It's A Thing

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  It seems like every day, there is a new computer hacking scheme. The latest of these is “mouse-jacking,” a process where hackers can take over someone’s wireless mouse.

  Jesse La Grew, a technical team lead within the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Information Technology, said that only wireless devices are affected. Even out of those devices, only certain kinds of mice and keyboards can be hacked.

  “A lot of people use Bluetooth keyboards and mice (and) these are unaffected,” said La Grew.

  Logitech’s Unifying receiver product is one wireless device that can be targeted by hackers. Unifying is a product that allows multiple wireless devices to work with one adapter. La Grew said that Logitech is aware of the problem and has released a patch, available on the Logitech website, to fix it.

  There are other wireless mice that are vulnerable to such attacks. La Grew said it’s best to check with manufacturers to see whether a specific device is susceptible.

  He said to take control of a mouse, hackers have to be physically close to the device. That means that using wireless mice in the home should be safe, but using them in public places like coffee shops may make a computer vulnerable.

  “Personally, I’m always more concerned with keyboards than mice, because if you are able to get data from that transmission, you might be able to grab keystrokes, which could be used for getting passwords,” La Grew said.

  This latest concern is just for specific products, but he warns that there is always a risk when one uses wireless devices of any kind.