Security News > 2020 > December > Hey Alexa, Who Am I Messaging?
The same group of researchers already had discovered ways that various forms of technology can potentially violate user privacy by engaging in what they call "Acoustic snooping." Last year, they published research on how a smartphone app has the ability record the sound from its microphones and figure out from that what someone has typed, giving it the potential to steal PINs and passwords.
The new research also builds on previous research that found that voice assistants could record the typing of keys on a computer to determine someone's input, Anderson wrote in a blog post.
Because modern voice assistants like Alexa have two to seven microphones, they can do directional localization, just as human ears do but with even greater sensitivity, the researchers discovered.
While only one of each device type was used, it's likely that a second identical device also could be attacked using training from the first device, researchers noted.
Earlier this year, researchers found flaws in Alexa that could allow attackers to access users' personal information, like home addresses, simply by persuading them to click on a malicious link.