When we hear the words “voice recognition”, we immediately
think of Siri and Alexa. These two products are used for your average everyday
task. Along with these common devices, voice recognition is now being used for
disabled people to communicate. According to Consumer Intelligence Research
Partners, approximately 20 million homes own a voice-activated assistance
device. Since so many of our devices are voice activated, there are vulnerabilities
that come with them.
According to a study at the University of Alabama Birmingham,
any voice-activated software is susceptible to voice impersonation attacks. These
impersonators can gain access to your voice through something as simple as a
spam phone call. Having the access to one of the home devices can lead to a
complete breach of any other device on the same network or in the home.
Another negative factor to these devices is that anyone can
control it. Devices that can control appliances in your home can be controlled
by any voice. This allows someone with malicious intent to have control over
your home electronics while you’re not there. We are becoming so reliant on
technology that these threats don’t cross our minds but we have to understand
the vulnerabilities that come with our electronic devices.
In these modern times, speech recognition is transforming at
a rapid pace. Although they are used for small tasks, these devices aren’t
under full protection against hackers and malicious activity. We don’t realize
how much information is stored on our phone and electronic devices but if
someone wants access, they can easily hack in, wiping our phone and compromising
the specific device.
Questions:
1.
Do you think these devices will ever be secure?
2.
Have you ever been a victim of hacking through
voice recognition?
3.
What preventive measures need to be taken if you
own one of these devices?
http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/security-vulnerabilities-of-voice-recognition-technologies/
Annie, I enjoyed reading about your perspective on the concerns surrounding voice recognition in products like Siri and Alexa. An important question that came up for me after reading your post was are consumers informed about these concerns, and if not, how can the public be better informed. I believe it's important with any new technology to understand the tradeoffs with its use. To answer your third question, I think that companies like Amazon could make their privacy policies more coherent and the government could make more of an effort to help consumers be more knowledgeable about the negative risks associated with technology.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, you offered a perspective on this voice technology that I never fully considered. I think eventually these devices can become more secure but never 100% secure. I have never been a victim and I hope not to. The companies that offer this technology can properly educate their customers on preventative measures to avoid being harmed through their devices.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, I think this is a very important issue and enjoyed reading your post. I really do not think that these devices can ever become fully secure. While technology advances so do the threats to it, people will continue to find new ways to exploit these devices. However, I think as time progresses the companies who create these devices will find better ways to protect themselves and users. This brought to my mind the recent issues with Facebook reading user conversations on their messenger app. I think we need to be wary not only of hackers but the companies not abusing their power as well.
ReplyDelete