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Project Alias Hacks Amazon Echo and Google Home To Protect Your Privacy (fastcompany.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the safety-first dept.

fahrbot-bot writes: The gadget, called Alias, is an always-listening speaker, designed to fit on top of an Amazon Echo or Google Home, where it looks like a mass of melted candle wax. It's composed of a 3D-printed top layer, a mic array, a Raspberry Pi, and two speakers. It only connects to the internet during the initial setup process. Alias stays "off the grid" while you're using it, preventing your conversations from leaving the device. When the Alias hears its own (customizable) wake word, it'll stop broadcasting white noise and wake up Alexa or Google Assistant so you can use them as normal.

30 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Why connect to the internet even once? by kaka.mala.vachva · · Score: 1, Redundant

    The only reason I would trust this device is if it didn't have a network adapter. Once it is online, it is open to hacking attacks.

    1. Re:Why connect to the internet even once? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It goes beyond that, the companies involved on the back-end making claims of "oh, it's not listening to you much," or "oh, we encrypt everything in the cloud" and then you find the insecure AWS folder full of videos...

      This is before black-hats figure out how to trivially botnet them into a superweapon, this is just how the companies that sold you the damn spying devices "for your convenience" value your privacy and security. Lip service.

      Amazon's RING security cameras with the backend "god" mode that they literally gave out unsecured unlimited access to a Ukranian software contractor... It just goes on and on and on forever.

      It's not about hackers, they'll always be the outsider threat. It's about lazy fucking morons. This is the threat to us all. Morons.

    2. Re:Why connect to the internet even once? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      It really wouldn't be hard to build one of these things yourself. I'd be surprised if there weren't multiple DIY projects just a Google away.

    3. Re:Why connect to the internet even once? by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      This is before black-hats figure out how to trivially botnet them into a superweapon

      Yup, that's happened a lot. Better stay in mom's basement just to be safe.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  2. I only see one problem by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyone valuing his privacy enough to use such a device probably already would not allow an eavesdropping device to exist in his living room. So who exactly is the target audience?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:I only see one problem by lazarus · · Score: 2

      I'm trying to figure out why the people who want the device but are worried about their privacy don't use the mute button on the top of their Echo. Is there some conspiracy about this not working that I'm unaware of? Why would I replace the mute button with another device that may also be listening to me?

      It's listening devices all the way down!

      --
      I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
    2. Re:I only see one problem by dmt0 · · Score: 1

      All the convenience of those assistant devices comes from the fact that you can use them from across the room. This Alias thing makes a lot of sense.

    3. Re:I only see one problem by markdavis · · Score: 2

      >"I'm trying to figure out why the people who want the device but are worried about their privacy don't use the mute button on the top of their Echo. Is there some conspiracy about this not working that I'm unaware of?"

      Doesn't have to be a "conspiracy". How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does? Perhaps it still listens and doesn't respond. There is no way to know what it is doing.

      >"Why would I replace the mute button with another device that may also be listening to me?"

      Because they you have a device you control and know will and cannot listen to anything without your explicit permission. I think it is a fantastic idea.

    4. Re:I only see one problem by kukusumusu · · Score: 1

      Anyone valuing his privacy enough to use such a device probably already would not allow an eavesdropping device to exist in his living room. So who exactly is the target audience?

      Maybe you find an Echo in your hotel room, or in your university dorm or common space ... Your significant other's house? It's like covering a camera.

    5. Re:I only see one problem by markdavis · · Score: 2

      >"How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does? Perhaps it still listens and doesn't respond. There is no way to know what it is doing."

      Reply to self. I should have added:

      And even if you know what it does now, how do you know that won't change later? The company could decide, at any point, to change the behavior because it is a soft function. And if they can change it, then so can hackers. And perhaps there are back doors and the government can gain access directly or indirectly. None of this is far-fetched, we have plenty of evidence that it has already happened and is happening.

      We are entering a different age now- one in which our equipment is no longer really ours. We have less and less control over the things we are buying and using. Our phones, cars, TV's, tablets, watches... You don't have to think people are trying to break into your house to do something sensible like locking your doors. You don't have to think people are secretly trying to run into your car to wear a seatbelt.

    6. Re:I only see one problem by lazarus · · Score: 3, Informative

      Doesn't have to be a "conspiracy". How do you KNOW the mute button works or what it does?

      Because it is a hardware switch which cuts off electricity to the microphone. This has been explored by many many tear-downs. Search for yourself.

      So unless someone has sneaked into your house/office and swapped it for some elaborate bypass it is not going to hear anything when it is activated.

      --
      I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
    7. Re:I only see one problem by ichimunki · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How would I know if the "Do Not Disturb" button worked? Wireshark. Even if the device listens but doesn't respond, what matters is whether it phones home-- and that can be monitored. It should not be connecting to the network until after it recognizes the wake word... now I suppose it could record and then wait for the wake word to transmit... but if I'm that paranoid, why wouldn't I just install a bunch of smart sockets to turn the power to my devices off when I want true privacy? Or why would I get devices like these in the first place?

      --
      I do not have a signature
    8. Re:I only see one problem by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I'm trying to figure out why the people who want the device but are worried about their privacy don't use the mute button on the top of their Echo.

      You'd have to cross the room to un-mute it every time you wanted to use it, completely destroying the hands-free usefulness of the device.

      Like if you are in the middle of cutting raw chicken and just want to start up a timer you forgot to set...

      So I can see some point to a third party device you know can be enabled or disabled by voice and not overridden by the Echo (until of course the Echo tests out re-activation codewords for your locking device while you sleep to make you think it's not working).

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    9. Re:I only see one problem by Can'tNot · · Score: 2

      So who exactly is the target audience?

      People who aren't single. This is a compromise device.

    10. Re:I only see one problem by markdavis · · Score: 1

      >"Because it is a hardware switch which cuts off electricity to the microphone. This has been explored by many many tear-downs. Search for yourself."

      Thanks. I didn't know that. Besides, that is not typical at all for mute buttons. Plus, three are many "smart speakers" now and by many companies. I was speaking more in abstract and not about one particular model from one particular company and right now.

      In any case, you can't activate a mute button remotely, so I still see how this Alias thing would be useful.

    11. Re:I only see one problem by markdavis · · Score: 1

      >"now I suppose it could record and then wait for the wake word to transmit"

      It might also only transmit when it needs to, which will look like normal traffic but could be metrics you don't expect. Again, it is a "black box". It might also do so only if and when you are targeted, or only when it hears certain things that you didn't supply during testing, or only if it was hacked. There are lots of ways something can spy on you without it just transmitting in obvious ways.

      >"but if I'm that paranoid, why wouldn't I just install a bunch of smart sockets to turn the power to my devices off when I want true privacy?"

      You could, but then it wouldn't be convenient or easy- defeating what people like the most about it. So that really is what Alias is doing- trying to keep it convenient. And yes, even with Alias, it doesn't address all those other cases of spying when you are actually using it. Of course, that applies to just about any "black box", like your phone or car.

    12. Re:I only see one problem by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      This doesn't seem to be confirmed. The source seems to be an interview with Bezos where he makes that claim, but looking at various teardowns of the hardware there is no obvious physical switch.

      In fact, it seems unlikely because the Echo uses an array of microphones, not just one, pointed in different directions. The switch might power down the amplifier perhaps, but no-one seems to have any evidence supporting that.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:I only see one problem by gebbeth · · Score: 1

      There are hacks that allow speakers to be used as microphones.

      --
      A closed mouth gathers no foot.
    14. Re:I only see one problem by markdavis · · Score: 1

      >"There are hacks that allow speakers to be used as microphones."

      Yeah, security is such a nightmare now. At least in the case of the "Alias", it emits a constant stream of noise that blocks the mic and would likely block the speaker portion acting as a mic.

    15. Re:I only see one problem by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      Good point. If you have the sockets set up to work with Alexa, an Echo can actually turn itself off... you'll still need the one in another room to turn it back on, though.

      --
      I do not have a signature
  3. Finally, someone to listen for the listeners by rmdingler · · Score: 1

    Until this little startup begins to threaten a fraction of 1% of market share, and then Google and Amazon deploy the workaround models.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  4. Simpler, cheaper solution by Tyger-ZA · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unplug your spy devices, permanently

    1. Re: Simpler, cheaper solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Even better !!!NEVER buy them !!

    2. Re:Simpler, cheaper solution by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Including your phone?

      If you don't trust Alexa to not listen all the time, you surely can't trust your phone to not do the same.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Simpler, cheaper solution by Tyger-ZA · · Score: 1

      Correct, I want this to become a sustainable product so I can leave the spyware behind. Whether that actually happens, I'm still uncertain.

  5. Wrong material by ArhcAngel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Shouldn't it be made out of tinfoil?

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  6. An array of microphones.... by Shaiku · · Score: 1

    From their website photos I'm guessing sizeof(micArray)/sizeof(micArray[0]) == 1.

  7. Awesome by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

    I might get a Google Home now that I can name it Asshole. Hey Asshole, turn on the lights!

  8. Snips by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 3, Informative

    Instead, why not give/throw/sell the alexa/google device away,
    and just put Snips on a Raspberry pi?

  9. Poor implementation -- by ripvlan · · Score: 1

    It should'a could'a been a robot finger that Presses the Mic-Mute button on the top of Echo.

    Seriously - does the White Noise block Alexa? I ask because it seems to "hear" whoever is speaking loudest - my children fight over what music should play and the loudest child wins. Although I win by pressing the mute button.

    Do I have to put up with the roar of Niagara Falls in my kitchen ? If so - seems the cure is worse than the disease.

    Or a solution looking for a problem.