How to Protect a Smart Speaker From Laser Attack
I love good scientific puzzles – things like quantum weirdness, dark matter and dark energy, strange gravitational behavior, or even why smart speakers react to light waves as if they were sound. The latter was the topic of a recently published article by researchers at the Tokyo Telecommunications University and the University of Michigan who used lasers to remotely control smart speakers, phones and tablets from hundreds of feet away using “light commands.” “While this is an exciting discovery that currently has no mechanical explanation, it is another vulnerability in the use of smart devices.
Using light commands to control smart devices
The researchers used lasers and infrared signals to activate micromechanical systems (MEM) and execute commands without sound. MEMs are microscopic components of microphones used in smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, Google Home and Facebook Portal, as well as in phones, tablets and smart devices. The group could execute light commands up to 360 feet away, at different angles and heights. Works even through glass windows.
The speakers reacted to light as if they were voice-based sound waves, which poses serious security concerns – especially since most of these devices don’t require user verification to be used, at least not by default. An experienced hacker, if properly configured, could potentially hijack your smart home network and even access other remotely synced devices using readily available equipment such as laser pointers.
The good news is that it can be tricky to launch an effective light team attack at this point. They are also dangerous because the most readily available hardware setup uses visible lasers and because smart devices respond audibly to all commands, whether triggered by light or sound, both will be immediately noticeable to anyone in the house. Moreover, no one really knows exactly why or how this is possible at all, and researchers are baffled by the physics that makes such attacks possible; they simply proved that light teams work in ideal scenarios, although the researchers also expect more efficient methods to be developed once the mechanisms are identified and understood.
Preventing Light Command Hacking
Regardless of whether light command attacks get more sophisticated, now that the hack has been demonstrated and replicated, we know that maybe someone could try to use light commands to control your smart home device, adding another risk to consider. when owning a smart device. speaker – just like strangers eavesdrop on your conversations or record confidential information . Fortunately, there are a few simple preventative steps that can help protect you from hypothetical light command attacks:
- Disconnect your devices when not in use: The simplest solution is to simply turn off and / or disconnect smart devices when you are not using them; hackers cannot use devices that are not included.
- Keep them out of sight: Light-command attacks require a clear line of sight, so keep your smart voice-activated devices away from windows and do not obstruct them with other objects, especially when not in use and when you are outdoors. at home, but I don’t want (or can’t) disconnect my devices from the network. Moving smart devices around on a regular basis can also make sense if you are particularly concerned about such hacks.
- Increase your security settings whenever possible : Another preventive measure is to set the highest possible security measures on each of your devices. Set PINs and other user authentication requirements, if available. This will be different for each device, but you should be able to find out how by doing a quick web search or by looking at any user manuals that were included with your devices.