Listen to Alexa? The Amazon Echo is really that safe
If you have an Amazon Echo at home, you have to ask yourself whether you can listen to Alexa. Because many users are concerned about security. Fortunately, there are tests and lots of details.
Listen to Alexa? How easily can you be spied on?
Call "Alexa" once - the Amazon Echo will listen to you and help you in everyday life. But can you easily be bugged?
- Briton Mark Barnes from MWR InfoSecurity took a closer look at Alexa and analyzed the data streams. Then he wanted to try to hack the Amazon Echo - with success: He turned a model of the Amazon Echo into a permanent surveillance apparatus.
- This is how secret eavesdropping works: With older echoes, which were delivered between 2015 and 2016, you could unscrew the bottom of the speaker and access the firmware. With the help of a simple SD card, Barnes was able to hack the system (without leaving any traces) and install malware.
- However, this hack is not a major threat, as the Amazon Echo first has to get into the hands of a hacker. From a distance, he couldn't hack the echo.
- However, it should only be a matter of time before an Amazon Echo is hacked from a distance: The voice assistant is connected to the router via WLAN - this has often been a weak point. Because in the past, numerous routers have been hacked. Tip: make WiFi secure.
- It is also worrying that every voice command from Amazon is saved and evaluated permanently. You can even listen to these commands in the Alexa app. Every now and then it happens that Alexa accidentally listens and starts conversations even though the keyword "Alexa" has not been used.
- Conclusion: Anyone who brings Alexa into the house must always count on Alexa to listen. If you take a look at the app, you should be surprised by the many recordings that Amazon collects. So that the router is not hacked if possible, you should install all router updates.
On the next page we show the 20 best questions for Alexa.