While it is possible for smartphone owners to set their own security measures to safeguard their personal information, the validity of these measures is a now a huge doubt as it has been proved that a phone can be remotely controlled without the owner’s knowledge.
The risks at stakes are huge as this paves the way for which massive personal data loss can occur and greatly breach on gadget users’ privacy. Regarding this, how do you ensure that you safeguard your phone from these hacks which some seems to be very difficult to detect? Well, technology is ever advancing and so do we expect the security aspect to be as well.
Online security researchers working with the French government have found a way in which your iPhone’s Siri can be tapped into and give way for remote access to the phone. This hack which was revealed at a teleconference in Paris and later published in one of the leading tech journals is set to give gadget manufactures a new lease of design problems as they would be a need to overcome these kinds of shortfalls which can greatly compromise on a phone device use.
In the demonstration; the two researchers made advantage of the wire sets which are found inside headphones being used with the smartphones. The wires are modified to act as a means through which electromagnetic signals can be received from a remote laptop which can be set at a distance less than 16 feet. This is made possible as the targeted device is made able to receive commands as well as execute them.
If the phone receives the given commands, the Siri or the Google Now can then redirect the phones into executing commands such as sending text messages or even visiting specific websites. This can be especially dangerous if a command, for instance is made to visit malicious websites or even make unauthorized money payments. This form of remote attack will make phone users who have plugged microphone-enabled headphones to their devices by taking advantage of the voicing assistants within phones.
The hack does not in any way disable the phone screen therefore high chances are that the device holders will be alerted whenever the given commands are received and make use of the cancel feature so as to prevent the commands from making the modifications which have been uncalled for.
Phone security has become a hot debate among tech corporations and government organizations alike with the tech consumer’s vulnerability being the center line of the debate. Gadgets hack such as the one described can be very damaging if they succeed. Consumer protection is now a major concern as there is growing risks that governments can as well exploit these to create spying loops through which massive data can be collected concerning the users of the gadgets in question.
This article originally appeared in Tech Insider by Cadie Thompson
Photo by Manny Valdes / CC by
Posted on May 5, 2023