But they might also open up the door for malicious hackers to get a way into their computers, researchers warn.

A flaw in the way several popular models of wireless mice and their corresponding receivers, the sticks or "dongles" that plug into a USB port and transmit data between the mouse and the computer, handle encryption could leave "billions" of computers vulnerable to hackers, security firm Bastille warned on Tuesday.

In short, a hacker standing within 100 yards of the victim's computer and using a $30 long-range radio dongle and a few lines of code could intercept the radio signal between the victim's mouse and the dongle plugged into the victim's computer. Then this hacker could replace the signal with her own, and use her own keyboard to control victim's computer.