Alexa and Siri Can Hear This Hidden Command. You Can’t.
Researchers can now send secret audio instructions undetectable to the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/technology/alexa-siri-hidden-command-audio-attacks.html |
Huh? |
Truly don't understand why anyone has one of these things in their home... |
Me either! What is the point? You don't have a full understanding of how your data is being used. Yet you are willing to take that risk, in exchange for the coolness factor of being able to tell Alexa to turn on some music or order from Amazon. |
Do not want these stupid things in my home. |
I don't delude myself to think I'm not under surveillance anyway so I don't deprive myself of things I like. I also have a samsung TV and an xbox and a government job so it was hopeless. |
Siri is my girl when it comes to finding my way home in a strange town. |
I don’t have anything going on that is wanna keep a secret sooooo |
Really? Post your bank account, address, and driver's license number then. There is still a need for privacy when you are a law-abiding citizen. I hate it when people are so cavalier about this fact. Everyone does not have your good intention. |
From the article:
Inside university labs, the researchers have been able to secretly activate the artificial intelligence systems on smartphones and smart speakers, making them dial phone numbers or open websites. In the wrong hands, the technology could be used to unlock doors, wire money or buy stuff online — simply with music playing over the radio. A group of students from University of California, Berkeley, and Georgetown University showed in 2016 that they could hide commands in white noise played over loudspeakers and through YouTube videos to get smart devices to turn on airplane mode or open a website. This month, some of those Berkeley researchers published a research paper that went further, saying they could embed commands directly into recordings of music or spoken text. So while a human listener hears someone talking or an orchestra playing, Amazon’s Echo speaker might hear an instruction to add something to your shopping list. “We wanted to see if we could make it even more stealthy,” said Nicholas Carlini, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in computer security at U.C. Berkeley and one of the paper’s authors. --- Right. Because that is what we all need in our iPhones. A compromisable stealth mode. ![]() |
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A cell phone? The home devices can't do anything a cell phone can't do. I guess you're still using a flip phone? |
Agree. I had one for 2 days and sent that babe packing. |
That's precisely what I was thinking. Maybe these folks don't have cellphones, either? |
Exactly. We do not have control over our data anymore. Even if you don't have a smartphone, pretty much everyone around you does. Your data is getting mined constantly. You can choose to stress about it, or you can accept that this is the world we live in. Be vigilant about monitoring your bank accounts and your credit. Or give up all technology and move to a deserted island somewhere. |