Can Your Smart Speakers Get Hacked? Learn How to Secure Them

Nowadays, a lot of us have a pair of smart speakers to brag about. Not only are they convenient to use daily, but they also look like a cool thing to have around.

However, nobody is asking themselves whether their smart speakers can pose a threat to their online security. We’re here to answer that for you.

Potential Risks of Using Smart Speakers

As you’re probably aware, the tech industry has developed numerous updates and technological advances aimed at smart speakers. Nowadays, everyone has access to artificial intelligence assistants and voice-controlled programs available through these devices and gadgets. However, there’s a lot of risks tied to having a smart speaker in your home. Here are two threats you should be looking out for:

Voice Phishing Attacks

Believe it or not, hackers have found a way to steal your passwords through smart speaker devices such as Amazon Alexa. They do this by sending an ordinary error message to the device followed by a few seconds of silence. This leads the user to think the device is not active.

However, it continues to listen, and then it sends out a request for the user to repeat their password to activate a system update. Everything recorded after that point gets sent to the third party behind the phishing scheme.

Eavesdropping

During an eavesdropping attack, Amazon devices remain active after the app says “goodbye.” It then continues to listen in search for specific keywords which activate a recording session.

Everything that gets recorded is sent directly to the hacker’s server. That way, they can eavesdrop on specific conversations and filter what is being said through keywords. This way, a hacker can get their hands on a lot of valuable information.

How to Secure Your Smart Speaker?

While there are many different smart speaker models available on the market, good security habits can be applied to all of them, regardless of their settings and features. Here are a couple of security tips to keep in mind:

Use a VPN

Start by connecting a VPN to your router to automatically secure all devices and gadgets connected to the internet, including the smart speakers. A VPN for Firestick can take you a long way when it comes to security and you can try this one here.

Delete Commands

One thing that can prevent security incidents is deleting the commands on your smart speakers. Nearly every smart speaker allows you to listen to past commands and erase those you don’t want to use anymore. Do this regularly to remove any sensitive information that you might have mentioned at some point.

Mute the Device

Another trick you can do is mute the device’s microphone when you’re not using it to be sure it is not recording passively. Each smart speaker has a mute button that allows you to control when the device is listening for command words. When you turn the microphone off, you’re automatically removing any risk tied to voice phishing and eavesdropping.

Strengthen Your Passwords

Lastly, protect the service account linked to the smart speaker device by strengthening its password and using two-factor authentication. This will make it significantly more difficult for third parties to gain remote access to the account. Also, practice better password security habits on all of your IoT devices to prevent security breaches in time.

Enjoy Your Smart Speakers Securely

While there are several concerns tied to using smart speakers, these devices are still very fun and convenient to have around. Yes, they’re always listening, and they can serve as a connection gateway to many other IoT devices within a household but, with the right security measures, you can manage to reduce the risk and still enjoy the AI assistance provided by these speakers.

Don’t forget to keep your devices and information safe. As long as you have a VPN and a strong password, you should be good to go!