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Researchers Bypassed Windows Password Locks With Cortana Voice Commands (vice.com)
Two independent Israeli researchers found a way for an attacker to bypass the lock protection on Windows machines and install malware by using voice commands directed at Cortana, the multi-language, voice-commanded virtual assistant that comes embedded in Windows 10 desktop and mobile operating systems. From a report: Tal Be'ery and Amichai Shulman found that the always-listening Cortana agent responds to some voice commands even when computers are asleep and locked, allowing someone with physical access to plug a USB with a network adapter into the computer, then verbally instruct Cortana to launch the computer's browser and go to a web address that does not use https -- that is, a web address that does not encrypt traffic between a user's machine and the website. The attacker's malicious network adapter then intercepts the web session to send the computer to a malicious site instead, where malware downloads to the machine, all while the computer owner believes his or her machine is protected.
Since this requires physical access, I propose an alternate method: unscrew the laptop and put whatever devices you want inside.
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Just another reason to not use Cortana or any of the other voice-activated appliances from Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.
Organization? You must be joking..
In the past, you could hack into old windows machines by pressing F1 at password prompt. If the help file was missing, it would ask you to browse and find it, which would allow you to right click on executables and run them. Nice to see that some things never change.
Avantgarde Hebrew science fiction
It is a relatively simple matter to configure Cortana to ignore commands when the voiceprint of the issuer is not the owner of a machine account. Simply enabling this option would prevent this type of attack.
It's likely game over anyway if someone has physical access to your device.
If a determined attacker has physical access to your machine you've lost via any number of methods.
When the machine is locked and sleeping, it is always listening?
What possibly could go wrong?
If a machine is in sleep mode and locked, there should be no "listening", this is more spying crap that NSA can turn on.
Nice, captcha "record"
Wow, what a fail by Microsoft. It should be beyond obvious to anyone with a pulse that not providing a way to completely disable Cortana opens computers up to an entire Pandora's box of security vulnerabilities.
It's totally obvious Microsoft is just jamming this down everyone's throat, especially business users, because they know they can get big (and mostly bullshit) "adoption" numbers and operational data for Cortana.
Of course the larger problem is nobody wants Microsoft's bullshit attempts to re-invent themselves as Google, Amazon/Alexa or Apple/Siri. So they will cram it down everyone's throats and get some minor level of usage just because it's there even though it aggravates most everyone else.
where malware downloads to the machine
I think they mean windows update.
Since the last big Windows update Cortana was coming up every time I touched the touchpad, so I just removed Cortana entirely with a Powershell script I found on the Internet.
Do these voice assistants respond to any sound frequencies the microphone can pick up? You might be able to pull this off with something people can't hear well, too, if you can trick the algorithm into matching your out of human hearing band to speech.
I don't get it. The attack as described involves plugging in a compromised network adapter so that you can tell Cortana to go to an insecure website, and instead direct the machine to a different site that serves malware. Why not skip the network adapter, and just tell Cortana to go straight to a malware site instead?
... hackers do a home invasion and make the user type in stuff.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
However, this seems to prove that it is worse than useless.
If you have proprietary or sensitive info, it ought to be only on a non-connected PC/Mac, whatever.
There are too many bugs in Windows. I don't care what promises Microsoft and Satya have to say.
No Cortana? Check. We're good.
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
I also don't get it: at what point does Windows decide a newly plugged-in USB network adapter should get all traffic routed to it instead of the existing cable/Wi-Fi connection?
If the weakness is Cortana always listening and able to be directed to a non-SSL web site why not attack the Wi-Fi access point or the modem/router?
Because this is /. and I didn't read TFA, here's the answer to my own question:
That's just fucking stupid.
or perhaps best suited for a movie...
but I somehow would like to see someone remotely hack an Alexa to utter voice commands to Cortana, to bypass Windows security and gain access to "sensitive files"...
Who knows maybe they will get into an argument, or have built in hard-coding to give each other the silent treatment.
As far as the movie option, it'll probably never happen as the producers would probably get sued into oblivion by the tag team of Amazon and Microsoft...
it does bother me though that the shutdown and network select is on the lock screen and works without any verification. has since forever.
People used to say "a woman's work is never done". At least this story conveys a hint of gender parity.