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...
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday January 26 2017, @07:51PM
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?
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday January 26 2017, @09:14PM
Fair enough. Robbery via Venmo [venmo.com] voice-hijacking only indirectly involves an Internet website. Footer on Venmo's website: