In a recently published study, researchers explain how they were able to use a laser to take control of remote-controlled voice assistants.
Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Siri, it doesn’t matter if you have a dairy product, as all these assistants can be hacked with a laser. This is the astonishing discovery made by researchers from the University of Electro-Communications and the University of Michigan in a recently published study. By pointing a commercially available lambda laser costing just a handful of dollars and coupling it with an amplifier costing over $300, the researchers were able to activate voice assistant commands remotely by aiming at the device’s microphone. Smartphones, televisions, and even connected speakers are sensitive to this technology, which can work up to 100 meters away, even through windows.
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The manipulation is made possible by the functioning of the microphones contained in our devices, which “convert sound into electrical signals and also respond to light directed at them.” According to the researchers behind this discovery, the laser allows the device to interpret light as if it were sound, thus executing remote commands.
The apparent simplicity of this manipulation raises many questions at a time when the connected home is primarily controlled by voice. However, the method can only work under several conditions, the most important being a direct line of sight to the device. The researchers have contacted manufacturers to inform them of their discovery, and Google and Amazon have stated that they are studying the phenomenon.
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