Alexa V Google speaker

[TitanTim]

I've got the Amazon echo show 8 and spot with the smaller screen and love them, all connected to my Hive heating, Neos and Ring cams and Hive smart plugs around the house with no issues. I think people need to get over themselves if they think companies have nothing better to do than sit there all day spying on you whilst your watching the TV in your living room picking your nose

Tim.

 

[Darkangelv2]

It's like vaccinations! If everyone gets these, my singular chance of being hacked drops! Come on everyone, get buying!! oke:

 

[Darkangelv2]

PS. I have Google and get on with the tech well. What HAS let me down recently is that i can't use the speakers as additional door bell notifiers with my Ring door bell because Amazon bought Ring and cut Google off.

 

[Timmyboybunter]

We've got a house full of them - I was initially reluctant when someone bought my daughter a 'dot' for her birthday, but ours get used every day without fail - music, controlling lights, announcements and between room conversations, timers, alarm clocks, soothing sleep sounds for the kids (hooting owls!), phonecalls, convenient bluetooth speakers for other devices - the list goes on. I even have a android head unit in my Skoda and use the Alexa app on that for music, radio (dab channels) and ringing home. I'm a convert . You do need prime plus music unlimited to get the best out of them, so running costs do mount up.

I have a small mountain of Echo Show 8's I'm slowly selling on Ebay and Facebook - haven't advertised on the forum as at £80 I'm making a £20 profit on what I paid but if anyone wishes to gain from my mercenary off-forum activities (rrp is £120, Amazon are changing the price every week or so) then drop me a PM or find me on Facebook.

 

[Timmyboybunter]

Ps - I'm a software engineer too

 

[Stevo1987]

When I was a young man I left my leather jacket on the back seat of my Opel Manta which was parked in a multi-story car park in Southend. When I returned the back window had been smashed in and my jacket had gone. I have a few these Alexa gadgets and I haven't had anything stolen because of them.

 

[ronk]

Ps - I'm a software engineer too

You'll maybe forgive my ignorance here, but could my broadband be utilised by somebody outside but say close to the window?
ie. Are they password protected?

 

[Timmyboybunter]

You'll maybe forgive my ignorance here, but could my broadband be utilised by somebody outside but say close to the window?
ie. Are they password protected?

If you mean "can your Alexa device be used by somebody outside the window", then categorically the answer is 'yes'; these devices will just respond to anyone who talks to them, but you do need to use a wake word which by default is simply 'Alexa'.

However, as long as you have disabled the ability to order things from your Amazon account (which many people don't - no brainer for me as we have 2 small children), there's really not a whole lot anyone malicious can achieve by communicating with them if they are indeed able to from outside.

People get hung up on the fact that these devices are always 'listening', which they are so they know when to respond to their wake word. And yes, your recorded voice will be sent up to the cloud using your broadband connection so an appropriate response can be played back to you (you can actually check what each device think it heard in your Amazon account).

Do you care though? I don't. In exactly the same way I don't care how many CCTV cameras spy on me each day or the fact that my internet browsing activity is undoubtedly monitored for red flags by something somewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I take Internet security seriously both at home and as part of the job I do, but these devices don't bother me in the slightest. I've had far more problems in the past decade from data breaches leading to my credit card details being used fraudulently - something you're fairly powerless to avoid unless you don't shop online.

Think I went off on a tangent there!

 

[ronk]

I am concerned mainly about being able to access my Broadband network and ultimately my computer.

 

[Timmyboybunter]

There's no exposure to your broadband network through an Echo device - the only thing anywhere close is the fact that your Wifi settngs are optionally stored on your Amazon account, so if you order another device and tick the 'link to my account' option it will basically configure itself when you plug it in and connect to your broadband without a password. Again though, it just uses your broadband for a connection - it can't actually do anything or access your computer**

(** but as with all tech, it's good to be open to the possibility that this would theoretically be possible - the same as with any such device you allow into your home network)

 

[Anonymous]

I work in the aviation industry and am involved in cyber security training and also auditing cyber security threats to aviation infrastructures..

There are two issues facing end users...straight forward attempt to breach security by a single attempt like phishing,spoofing, man in the middle attacks, malware, security holes in applications/networks/operating systems ....and someone who does something joined up, like wanting to steal your car, drain your bank account, extort money...

The former’s probability of ‘getting you’ increases pretty exponentially with the number of devices that you have that are internet enabled..people are v careless, default passwords, unimaginative passwords, repeat passwords, lack of two factor authentication, swapping files/downloading from various sites etc etc..I can logon onto most peoples webcams / wi fi routers without a great effort if I’m motivated...

The more subversive , little appreciated is that tools that are not even on the dark web, let alone those there allow a motivated attacker to build up a detailed profile of you, they know about all your family and friends, your hobbies, where you work, when where you travel, what internet devices you interface with..

Again one thing I do professionally is what’s called open source analysis...without accessing information that is ‘protected’ we build up a detailed picture of a person / company to the point that we know more about them then we would tell even a close friend...

We can predict with a high degree of probability their likely future actions...

The mere fact people use forums like this, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In allow people to work these things out...I have a friend who ‘went to ground’ a few years ago..however their digital footprint lasts forever..there are archive databases that hold billions of items that people think were long deleted..

I don’t spend any real money on these activities and they are fully compliant with all data laws...if you were willing to spend a bit of cash, a few dollars and did not car there is an open door waiting for you..

I lost the password to an encrypted disc, it was years since I accessed it...buying an off the shelf password hacker for 15usd had the password broken in 15 minutes and it wasn’t a short ,obvious one either...

The final point is that many hacks are achieved and then like the enigma cracking they run silently in the background waiting for something really juicy to be caught !

And the final final point...most of the guys we seeing getting trapped are the ones who should know better..systems administrators etc...