Keylogger-like conduct has some Corsair K100 keyboard prospects involved. A number of customers have reported their peripheral randomly coming into textual content into their laptop that they beforehand typed days or perhaps weeks in the past. Nevertheless, Corsair advised Ars Technica that the conduct is a bug, not keylogging, and it is presumably associated to the keyboard’s macro recording function.

A reader tipped us off to an ongoing thread on Corsair’s assist discussion board {that a} person began in August. The person claimed that their K100 began typing by itself whereas they use it with a MacBook Professional, gaming laptop, and KVM change.

“Each couple of days, the keyboard has began randomly typing by itself whereas I’m engaged on the MacBook. It normally appears to kind messages that I beforehand typed on the gaming PC and it will not cease till I unplug the keyboard and plug it again in,” the person, “brendenguy,” wrote.

Ten customers seemingly responded to the thread (we won’t confirm the validity of every declare or account, however Corsair confirmed this can be a identified problem), reporting comparable experiences.

One mentioned their keyboard began coming into a “particular line from a really delicate e mail” whereas interacting with shopper information with their PC in Protected Mode. One person famous that they do not use Corsair’s iCue software program for programming peripherals however had an analogous expertise. One other mentioned their K100 typed out greater than 100 letters in opposition to their will, and manufacturing facility resets and clearing the keyboard’s reminiscence did not resolve the problem. There are additionally some threads on the Linus Tech Suggestions discussion board with folks claiming the identical drawback. Some prospects mentioned they feared they had been hacked on the time, whereas a couple of accused Corsair of stealthy keylogging.

Corsair confirmed to Ars that it is obtained “a number of” reviews of the K100 performing like this however affirmed that “there’s no {hardware} operate on the keyboard that operates as a key logger.” The corporate did not instantly reply to follow-up questions on what number of keyboards had been affected.

“Corsair keyboards unequivocally don’t log person enter in any manner and do not need the flexibility to log particular person keystrokes,” Corsair’s rep advised Ars Technica.

In addition they insisted that the problem is not widespread, with only a “small quantity” of complaints from “tens of 1000’s” of K100 gross sales.

The corporate is investigating what’s inflicting the problem however believes it may very well be associated to the keyboard’s means to document macros. Some, however not all customers, noticed the problem resolved with a latest firmware replace Corsair issued, based on Corsair and one particular person on Corsair’s discussion board (though they claimed to have completely different points after performing the replace).

 “The macro operate may very well be inadvertently switching on and recording keyboard, and doubtlessly mouse, inputs. These macros are then being triggered and reproducing inputs at a later time and misinterpreted as keylogging. We’re nonetheless investigating the exact nature of the problem with our prospects.,” Corsair’s spokesperson mentioned. 

One person on Corsair’s discussion board mentioned that when their K100 inadvertently entered textual content they typed days in the past, the enter included the identical backspaces and pauses they recalled making when initially typing the content material, which feels like a macro operate. Corsair’s K100 permits macro recording with or with out its proprietary software program.

This additionally is not a novel drawback. We discovered years-old discussions on Reddit that reported comparable conduct with Logitech keyboards, and a few concluded that unintended macro recording was the perpetrator.

Nonetheless, we do not blame customers for being cautious. In spite of everything, everyone knows how inconspicuous keylogging tech might be. We have seen keyloggers covertly lurking in all the pieces from laptop computer touchpad and audio drivers to company laptops and networks and laptop equipment, like keyboards and cables.

Even when there is no such thing as a malicious exercise, any erratic conduct from a peripheral as superior and costly the K100 is irritating. Corsair is without doubt one of the most well-known gaming peripheral manufacturers, and the K100 is one among its most costly keyboards. With a $200 MSRP, the K100 has a few of the flashiest options, together with the debut of Corsair’s Axon system-on-chip enabling an 8,000 Hz polling price, optical mechanical switches, a financial institution of macro keys, and a programmable dial. We’ve not seen any reviews of comparable points with the Corsair K100 Air or different keyboards from the model.

Any affected prospects ought to contact Corsair’s assist group, Corsair’s rep mentioned. In addition they mentioned that affected customers may reset the K100 by unplugging the keyboard after which holding down Esc for 5 seconds whereas plugging it in.

In response to anybody nonetheless caring concerning the Corsair keyboard’s safety, the corporate’s spokesperson mentioned: “Corsair takes buyer information privateness very significantly, and even when a single person is impacted, we’ll rapidly work to resolve the problem.” We requested Corsair it might provide refunds for the K100 and can replace this piece if we hear again.

Corsair’s K100 got here out in October 2020 and has a two-year guarantee.