Voice In Canada Flash Briefing #663
Hey there, hope you’re having a great day.
Today I want to tell you a little bit about a security vulnerability that has been noticed in voice technology.
And, one of the things I try to do here on the flash briefing is… yes, I give you lots and lots of positive stuff, but I also want to highlight some stories that do have some relevance, even if they may be not the best stories in terms of painting voice technology in a positive light.
There’s some good news. There’s a silver lining to this story, but essentially, whether you’re talking about Alexa, Google Home, or Siri, there are some researchers that found that if you shine a laser light at a smart speaker, you are able to inject inaudible, and sometimes invisible voice commands to the device, that can then cause them to take certain actions.
In the case of, you know, unlocking doors or visiting websites, or that sort of thing depending on what you have tied to your devices, that may or may not be possible.
Researchers are now working with these companies to figure out ways to protect against this vulnerability.
What’s very interesting though, is that these researchers are now working with these companies to figure out ways to protect against this vulnerability.
Two ways they’ve suggested is actually covering the microphones with some type of light limiting shields, or the other one is actually having microphones on two sides of the device so that it has to hear the voice from both sides at the same time.
If you just shine a laser light on one side, it won’t work. So, this is really interesting.
I have to admit, I’m not an engineer, I don’t quite understand the science behind that, but nevertheless, it has been shown that certain light can trigger certain responses.
So, I don’t know, it doesn’t concern me too much to be perfectly honest.
I haven’t seen anybody around my home shining a laser into my home to activate my Alexa device, but it’s out there and that’s a very interesting, but I’m sure Amazon will be working hard to take care of that.
Interesting story. Alright, hope you’re having a great day and I will talk to you tomorrow.
Other Useful Resources
- Complete List of Alexa Commands
- Alexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in Canada
- Teri Fisher on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Instagram
- Alexa in Canada Community Group on Facebook
- Please leave a review on the Skills Store!
- Shopping on Amazon.ca
- Create a Flash Briefing Tutorial – Free Tutorial to Create your own Flash Briefing
- Flash Briefing Formula – Your Complete Premium Step-By-Step Course to Launch a Successful Flash Briefing that Gets Found and Grows Your Brand
Listen on your Echo Device! Easy as 1-2-3!
1. Open your Alexa app and click on the Menu button > Settings > Flash Briefing.
2. Click on “Add Content” and search for “Voice in Canada”.
3. Click on “Voice in Canada” and the Enable button.
Alexa, what are my flash briefings?
Alexa, what’s in the news?
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