Alexa's Listening: Hackers Turn Amazon Echo Into a Snitch

[Guest]

Hackers at Def Con 26 demonstrated a new way to compromise Echo speakers and have the Alexa virtual assistant eavesdrop on unsuspecting people.

Alexa's Listening: Hackers Turn Amazon Echo Into a Snitch : Read more

 

[stdragon]

All these AI bot are little snitches. It's framework that once the Gov gets a backdoor into, it'll be a surveillance state wetdream!

 

[bit_user]

I'm waiting for a virus that turns the AI into an "evil Alexa" that starts insulting the user, ignoring them, randomly shouting insults, and dissing them in front of their friends. The most insidious thing would be if it starts changing slowly. So, at first, you almost don't even notice.

 

[rantoc]

Inviting any IoT into the home is a disaster waiting to happen, how is this anyhow surprising considering IoT devices track-record when it comes to security?

 

[sadsteve]

What a shock!! NOT.

It's kind of a foregone conclusion that someone's going to try to hack any and all IoT devices.

 

[10tacle]

As our society trends towards slacker convenience like the latest "smart home" trends like Alexa, the more our personal security will be put in jeopardy. It's as simple as that. I am not aware of an antivirus program that protects "smart" appliances from being compromised and being turned on remotely by a hacker to burn a house down. The Target hackers found their way into that retail store company's database full of customer credit card data by going through their "smart" HVAC network.

Think about that: a hacker could theoretically remotely turn on the gas burners of a homeowner's "smart" stove without actually igniting them when nobody's home. Then when the homeowner comes home that's full of natural gas fumes in the wintertime and static electricity discharges, it's game over man....game over.

 

[g.evans]

Anything that can be done with technology, can be undone with technology. Anything thing that technology can make, technology can break. Greg Evans - 1995