Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday January 26 2017, @05:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the Dear-aunt,-let's-set-so-double-the-killer-delete-select-all dept.

Interesting story at vocative.com

Demonic sounds are usually related to evil spirits, but researchers have found a way to turn them into "hidden voice commands" for Android devices.

A group of Ph.D. candidates at Georgetown and University of California, Berkeley developed a series of voice commands that can be recognized and executed by smartphone virtual assistants, but not very easily by human ears.

Some of the things these hidden commands can potentially do include sending a tweet, making a phone call, or even using Venmo to transfer money. Or, in a cyberattack scenario, a hidden command could open a website that automatically downloads malware, which then leads to hackers having full control of your device.

[...] A similar situation occurred earlier this month when a child accidentally ordered a $150 doll house from Amazon by simply asking Amazon's Alexa, "Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?"

Those assistants need to recognize who is speaking...


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday January 26 2017, @07:51PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Thursday January 26 2017, @07:51PM (#459085)

    Cyberattack. Maybe they only consider the cyber applicable if the attack is coming over the internet?

    I mean we all know that where security is concerned you are only allowed to attack via traditional channels and all other attack surfaces are strictly off limits, right?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday January 26 2017, @09:14PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 26 2017, @09:14PM (#459141) Journal

    Maybe they only consider the cyber applicable if the attack is coming over the internet?

    Fair enough. Robbery via Venmo [venmo.com] voice-hijacking only indirectly involves an Internet website. Footer on Venmo's website:

    Venmo is a service of PayPal, Inc., a licensed provider of money transfer services (NMLS ID: 910457). All money transmission is provided by PayPal, Inc.