ALEXA and The Unavoidable
“Hey Alexa, Surprise Me!”
Now the above proposition can have several conclusions but ‘SECURITY’ may hardly be one of them. In times when everything is going digital, paperless and gesture-controlled, security must be the overriding feature. To understand the nexus behind this voice revolution, first let us see how Alexa actually communicates with its users through “Echo”.
Engineers and scientists have worked hard over the years to device an instrument that can be brought close to human intelligence by training it with extensive Machine Learning Alogrithms. Year 2012 saw Amazon’s first Artificial Intelligence system, Alexa, a voice controlled device meant to parse user-dictated functions and do the trick through Amazon’s Echo products such as Echo, Dot and Tap. This lets you perform actions like knowing weather with your voice command, book yourself a cab, tune into your favourite playlist, read you through headlines while getting ready for work, entertain your kids and unlock other amazing actions.
“By 2021, there will be almost as many personal-assistant bots on the planet as people”-Judith Shulevitz
So, when you ask your voice assistant to Turn off the lights or Play your favourite song, this piece of recording is sent over the internet to Amazon’s Alexa Voice services which compiles the instruction and plays the required action. Isn’t it quite surprising how a smart speaker picks up the speech even after laying idle for some time? This justifies the “Wake” word theory put forward by the services which claims that only those expressions that are uttered after the wake word, by default, Alexa, are detected by the voice assistant. Notingly, not to forget that
“Science is a good master but a bad servant!”
Alas, it is not as glitch-free as it seems to be. Several glitches have been reported which raise an eyebrow at security issue pertaining to Alexa voice services! Ever wondered where all your data in the form of voice recordings, goes? No, right? Well this data is quite critical to the service provider as it contains your likes, dislikes, how many times you ask for a specific thing and based on this data, a customized product is created, though, Amazon claims that it does not sell the gathered data to any third party or channelize it to targeted advertising. A team at SRLabs, in their series of videos, have discovered how the voice assistant “forgets” to stop and the software “continues” to listen long after performing the desired action, in spite of the fact that there have been no evidences of this vulnerability exploiting in the real world.
Citing a short incident: Alexa once recorded a family’s private conversation where the “wake” word was not even used and this recording was emailed to an acquaintance in their contact list, to which Amazon justified that the assistant might have been awakened by a similar wake word such as “Texas”, then misconstrued elements using the conversation.
The newest automation, “Smart Home”, uses similar concept and devices that tracks the owner’s activity, distills the data making sure that the owner can see what’s happening in their homes, which is again a well developed automation architecture. The bell goes off at the point where the question arises
What are the safety tips to protect my privacy?
With more than 100 million owners of Alexa-enabled device, convenience calls for proactivity! Here are some tips :
* Turn off the mic, use Alexa Voice remote often
You can always mute your Echo when it is not in use to prevent data from being collected!
*Use PIN protection for voice purchases
Don’t want others to use your device? Let’s browse through the settings in Alexa App. Navigate through “Voice Purchase” in the settings and choose a preferable option.
*Switch on Echo’s notification
This is to trigger a sound whenever your device wakes up!
*Place your echo well distanced from doors and windows.
This is done to prevent mixing of external instructions or voices with those at internal level and eliminate false alarms.
*Review and delete your interactions with Alexa.
*Never trust third party services with your voice services and passwords.
*Turn Echo’s camera off to avoid irrelevant recordings.
Alexa has surely lifted load off our shoulders by voice-controlling the instructions and performing desired actions by just a command. Technology has been extended to its full use with the realisation of smart homes and speakers combining them with customised services by Amazon. With all that said an done,
Alexa! Sign me off, until next…..
