zlacker

>>ementa+(OP)
To be fair, the microphone _is_ listed on the specsheet of the LicheeRV Nano

https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/lichee/RV_Nano/1_intro.h...

I assume they didn't intend to put a mic on the KVM product, but they wanted to make a KVM product, already had this SBC product, which reusing their existing stock of helped keep cost low.

Should they have been more up front about it it? Sure, and it's not great that they had a bunch of security issues in the FW anyway, so not exactly great, but "hidden microphone in a Chinese KVM" lets the mind wander

>>tayior+t6
It doesn't strike me as that useful to have a hidden microphone in a KVM product as most of the time, they're going to be stuck in server rooms with just lots of fan noise to record.

Far more of an issue would be any kind of keylogger built into the software, which is why it's best to go for devices that support open source software.

>>ndsipa+4d
It is possible to keylog via audio.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10190721

>>i_am_p+Fd
It would take an especially perverse mind to keylog using audio on a KVM, though. The KVM basically has access to everything, any secondary spying using a microphone or a camera would provide very little added value.

>>seszet+lo
Maybe it's for the super secret stuff that the datacenter emergency ops worker knows not to type through the KVM? ;-)