Voice-activated personal assistants like Siri and Cortana are vulnerable to talking malware - claims AVG
Voice-activated devices could be vulnerable to attack from malware using text-to-speech emulation programmes, according to a report from cyber-security group AVG.
Assistants like Siri could be exploited by talking malware
Wearable tech and smartphones with integrated personal assistants such as Siri and Cortana will be vulnerable to malware bugs capable of replicating human speech.
These bugs could be programmed to issue demands to call premium phone numbers or send unauthorised emails from victim’s devices.
The exploit could also be used to take over home devices powered by the Internet of Things - unless the smart devices start coming with voice-recognition security features.
Yuval Ben-Itzhak, an AVG security blogger, said: “Being able to issue commands to my television might not be the most dangerous thing in the world but new smart devices, connected to the Internet of Things could see commands issued to connected home security systems, smart home assistance, vehicles and connected work spaces in the future.
“Utilising voice activation technology in the Internet of Things without authenticating the source of the voice is like leaving your computer without a password - everyone can use it and send commands.”
Last week, Microsoft issued its first smartphone to ship with personal assistant Cortana, the Lumia 735.