Security News > 2020 > November > Laser-Based Hacking from Afar Goes Beyond Amazon Alexa

Imagine someone hacking into an Amazon Alexa device using a laser beam and then doing some online shopping using that person account.

The same team that last year mounted a signal-injection attack against a range of smart speakers merely by using a laser pointer are still unraveling the mystery of why the microelectro-mechanical systems microphones in the products turn the light signals into sound.

Researchers at the time said that they were able to launch inaudible commands by shining lasers - from as far as 360 feet - at the microphones on various popular voice assistants, including Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Facebook Portal, and Google Assistant.

Now, the team- Sara Rampazzi, an assistant professor at the University of Florida; and Benjamin Cyr and Daniel Genkin, a PhD student and an assistant professor, respectively, at the University of Michigan - has expanded these light-based attacks beyond the digital assistants into other aspects of the connected home.

The paper shows how using a digital assistant as the gateway can allow attackers to take control of other devices in the home: Once an attacker takes control of a digital assistant, he or she can have the run of any device connected to it that also responds to voice commands.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/light-based-attacks-digital-home/161583/