# samyk/keysweeper

KeySweeper is a stealthy Arduino-based device, camouflaged as a functioning USB wall charger, that wirelessly and passively sniffs, decrypts, logs and reports back (over GSM) all keystrokes from any Microsoft wireless keyboard in the vicinity.

Repository: https://github.com/samyk/keysweeper
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/keysweeper
Homepage: https://samy.pl/keysweeper/
Language: Eagle
License Family: other
Last push: 2017-03-02T00:44:17+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4251, "days_push": 3472, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1127, forks 246 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:41.573163+00:00)

## What it is
KeySweeper is an open-source, open-hardware Arduino-based device disguised as a USB wall charger that passively sniffs, decrypts, and logs keystrokes from nearby Microsoft 2.4GHz wireless keyboards, exfiltrating them over GSM or flash storage. It includes schematics, firmware, and a web-based live keystroke monitoring tool.

## Use cases
- sniff keystrokes from microsoft wireless keyboards
- build a hardware keylogger disguised as a usb charger
- demonstrate 2.4ghz rf keyboard vulnerabilities
- decrypt proprietary wireless keyboard protocols
- security research on wireless input devices
- physical pentest demonstration tooling

## When to choose
- you need an open-hardware reference design for RF keyboard sniffing research
- you want to demonstrate risks of proprietary 2.4GHz wireless keyboards
- you're studying embedded SIGINT or hardware hacking techniques

## When to avoid
- you need a software-only keylogger or endpoint monitoring solution
- you want a maintained product with support - last release was 2017
- your target keyboards use encrypted modern protocols rather than Microsoft's legacy 2.4GHz RF
- legal or ethical constraints prohibit covert surveillance devices

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: security, networking, logging, monitoring
- domain: security, hardware, embedded-systems, penetration-testing
- platform: embedded, iot
- tags: keylogger, arduino, open-hardware, rf-sniffing, wireless-keyboard, gsm, sigint, eagle, hardware

## Member repositories
- samyk/keysweeper (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.573163+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:38:54.204079+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/samyk/keysweeper (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:41.573163+00:00, sha 1779dc4840c9)
  - homepage: https://samy.pl/keysweeper/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:43:27.064174+00:00, sha bb884e052411)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.