Digital home assistants are already very famous for recording and saving voices. New reports discovered the potential risk of digital assistants. Now they are even able to record what people are typing or exploring on mobile phones.
Like Amazon Alexa, the microphone on digital home assistants are strong enough to record the taps on the phone from a significant distance. The microphone is so powerful that it can hear voices and finger taps even when people are making background noises.
University of Cambridge researchers team test this ability of microphones by plotting a plan in which they are going to record the PINs and the text that nearest person typed on the phone. They found out shocking reality and instantly aware the public by releasing a report. This ability of a digital assistant’s microphone is dangerous as it can record every possible private information.
Almos Zarandy, Ilia Shumailov, and Ross Anderson presented an online paper by the title, “Hey Alex, What Did I Just Type”, which says that the microphone identified correct PINs in just 10 guesses.
A year before, the same team discovered that smartphones use different sources to record voice and identify what the users are typing on the phone. Hence, no information is private anymore as mobile phones are able to invade privacy.
Anderson did new research and wrote the facts about acoustic snooping. What people are typing on computers can be recorded by voice assistants. The virtual keyboards are famous for silent typing but still, the voice assistants like Alexa have two to seven microphones that work the same as human ears.
The microphones near the screen can recognize the vibration generated by typing and use it to identify the letter. This ability of microphones is harmful as it helps attackers to easily get the personal information of a person. The attackers used a smart speaker that is associated with a microphone and they get to know the passwords and PINs easily.
Apart from voice recordings, digital assistants are even able to obtain confidential information of the user and make it available for attackers. The saved data can be used by attackers to target users and harm them.
Update: Amazon's spokesperson informed Digital Information World team that “What’s demonstrated by the researchers is not possible on Alexa", adding further, "We do not provide audio recordings to third-party skill developers.”
Read next: This security researcher earned a huge amount of $2 million through bug bounty program
Like Amazon Alexa, the microphone on digital home assistants are strong enough to record the taps on the phone from a significant distance. The microphone is so powerful that it can hear voices and finger taps even when people are making background noises.
University of Cambridge researchers team test this ability of microphones by plotting a plan in which they are going to record the PINs and the text that nearest person typed on the phone. They found out shocking reality and instantly aware the public by releasing a report. This ability of a digital assistant’s microphone is dangerous as it can record every possible private information.
Almos Zarandy, Ilia Shumailov, and Ross Anderson presented an online paper by the title, “Hey Alex, What Did I Just Type”, which says that the microphone identified correct PINs in just 10 guesses.
A year before, the same team discovered that smartphones use different sources to record voice and identify what the users are typing on the phone. Hence, no information is private anymore as mobile phones are able to invade privacy.
Anderson did new research and wrote the facts about acoustic snooping. What people are typing on computers can be recorded by voice assistants. The virtual keyboards are famous for silent typing but still, the voice assistants like Alexa have two to seven microphones that work the same as human ears.
The microphones near the screen can recognize the vibration generated by typing and use it to identify the letter. This ability of microphones is harmful as it helps attackers to easily get the personal information of a person. The attackers used a smart speaker that is associated with a microphone and they get to know the passwords and PINs easily.
Apart from voice recordings, digital assistants are even able to obtain confidential information of the user and make it available for attackers. The saved data can be used by attackers to target users and harm them.
Update: Amazon's spokesperson informed Digital Information World team that “What’s demonstrated by the researchers is not possible on Alexa", adding further, "We do not provide audio recordings to third-party skill developers.”
Read next: This security researcher earned a huge amount of $2 million through bug bounty program
