Connectivity and functionality may offer us convenience, but as with any new connected technology like smart speakers also come with security concerns.
How would you feel about having a device in your home that’s always listening to what’s going on, standing ready to record, process and store any information it receives? That might be a somewhat alarmist way of putting it, but it’s essentially what smart home speakers do.
Smart speakers offer audio playback but also feature internet connectivity and often a digital assistant, which dramatically expands their functionality.
With today’s smart speakers, you can search the internet, control other home automation devices, shop online, send text messages, schedule alarms and more.
This connectivity and functionality may offer us convenience, but as with any new connected technology, these speakers also come with security concerns. Any time you add a node to your network, you open yourself up to more potential vulnerabilities. Since smart home tech is still relatively new, it’s also bound to have bugs.
Although smart home companies work to fix these flaws as quickly as possible and want to ensure their devices are secure, there’s still always a chance you’ll run into security issues. Here are six potential risks you should be aware of.
- Unexpected Activation
Although smart speakers are always listening since their microphones are continuously on, they don’t record or process anything they hear unless they detect their activation phrase first. For Google Home, this phrase is “OK, Google.” For an Amazon speaker, say “Alexa.”
There are several problems. The first is that the technology isn’t perfect yet, and it’s entirely possible that the device will mishear another phrase as it’s wake-up phrase. For example,
an Oregon couple recently discovered that their Amazon Echo speaker had been recording them without their knowledge. Amazon blamed the mistake on the device mishearing something in a background conversation as “Alexa.”
- Misheard Cues
Unfortunately, these misunderstandings can extend beyond just activation. After the Oregon family’s Echo recorded their conversation, it sent the recording to a random person on their contact list. They only knew about the incident because the person who received the recording contacted them and told them.
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