I have recently seen some wireless mice that when the receiver is plugged in to a USB port, Windows device manager shows a new "HID-compliant mouse" (as expected) and also an "HID-compliant keyboard." Is this standard practice, or should it raise concern? Can something else be checked to see if there's an issue?
Is vigilance in Device Manager really needed?
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1You may look at Mousejack attack (bastille.net/research/vulnerabilities/mousejack/…). Also, there is a list of affected devices list you can compare with your mouse. – JackSparrow Sep 22 '17 at 9:16
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1some mice have key macro capabilities, and some "press" special buttons, like the Windows button, for which they need a KB. – dandavis Sep 25 '17 at 21:15
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@dandavis Your answer-in-comments is the correct one and would have been marked Accepted as an Answer. The mice prompting the question have forward/back Web navigation buttons. – WBT Oct 9 '17 at 13:35
There is little need for concern here. The wireless dongle you plugged in to your computer supports both a keyboard and a mouse, and is presenting itself as a composite USB device where both devices are attached.
The dongle can't tell if there is a wireless keyboard present, because battery-powered keyboards conserve battery life by not transmitting unless someone is pressing a key. In order to avoid having the device driver enabled and disabled every time a key is pressed, the dongle simply says "keyboard is present".
answered Sep 22 '17 at 2:29
