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Hackers Can Take Control of Siri and Alexa By Whispering To Them in Frequencies Humans Can't Hear (fastcodesign.com)
Chinese researchers have discovered a vulnerability in voice assistants from Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, and Huawei. It affects every iPhone and Macbook running Siri, any Galaxy phone, any PC running Windows 10, and even Amazon's Alexa assistant. From a report: Using a technique called the DolphinAttack, a team from Zhejiang University translated typical vocal commands into ultrasonic frequencies that are too high for the human ear to hear, but perfectly decipherable by the microphones and software powering our always-on voice assistants. This relatively simple translation process lets them take control of gadgets with just a few words uttered in frequencies none of us can hear. The researchers didn't just activate basic commands like "Hey Siri" or "Okay Google," though. They could also tell an iPhone to "call 1234567890" or tell an iPad to FaceTime the number. They could force a Macbook or a Nexus 7 to open a malicious website. They could order an Amazon Echo to "open the backdoor." Even an Audi Q3 could have its navigation system redirected to a new location. "Inaudible voice commands question the common design assumption that adversaries may at most try to manipulate a [voice assistant] vocally and can be detected by an alert user," the research team writes in a paper just accepted to the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security.
I can see two clear exploits:
1) Set up a personal 900 number
2) ???
3) Get on a PA system and broadcast the ultra-sonic message to call your 900 number
4) Profit!!!
The other exploit is step 3) just broadcast a normal audible message to call your 900 number
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
You're not thinking very creatively, since I was able to think of a variety of attacks that could use this without having physical access to the interior of your home.
For instance, they could have just dropped a small device into your pocket that every few minutes emits an inaudible command to open the garage door. You, yourself would be the vector through which the attacker could attack your always-on devices in your home. In fact, it could even be something you're aware of, like a thumb drive you were given that secretly has a tiny speaker built in or that is setup to autorun a sound file with the commands when plugged into a computer.
Alternatively, a person who is known to you but who you don't realize is malicious could use this to gain physical access. Maybe you're okay taking a FaceTime call from them, but then they transmit the inaudible signal over the call, which your iDevice faithfully reproduces, resulting in Alexa, Siri, or whatever else opening your garage door. Or maybe someone standing outside at your smart doorbell uses it when you ask what they want via the app, resulting in your phone or tablet reproducing the sounds within earshot of a device that will respond to them.
A third possibility is that they could use your always-on phone to engage in an attack against your home even while you're not at home. For instance, an attacker passing you in the street could activate the commands on a device in your hand or pocket via "OK Google" or "Hey Siri" to open your garage door for a crony of theirs. For that matter, anyone who can get within listening distance of your phone can use this attack on it, all without ever having access to the devices within your home.
A few days ago, I happened to be reading something online and paused and said you myself aloud, "Are you serious?"
And suddenly, my iPhone — which was far across the room and plugged in — lit up and Siri asked me what I wanted.
Apparently, "Are you serious" sounds like "Hey, Siri."
What about wardriving with big loudspeakers?
I'm actually surprised it worked. I'd have expected one of the first things the device would do is filer out frequencies above and below human speech in order to remove as much background noise as possible. Anything ultrasonic should be discarded as it can only ever be noise, since no human can talk that high*.
* Except after getting kicked in the balls.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Someone posted a tale of woe on Twitter the other day. They bought a "smart" lock, controlled via an app on their phone. The phone uses nearby wifi APs to determine location without powering up the GPS. The guy has a portable wifi AP for use when travelling...
Every time he sets up his mobile AP, anywhere in the world, is house unlocks all its doors.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC