With new devices being invented to make lives easier, it also comes with a number of downsides, the main downside being the security. As is the case with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home, as a big feature of theirs could put the user's security and safety at risk.
A report by The Register reveals that there are eight big flaws in the Bluetooth features, including the Google Home and the Amazon Echo. These flaws can be used by hackers to their advantage and are collectively called BlueBorne. These eight flaws in particular, can take a hit to 5.3 billion devices, from Android, iOS, Linux, and Windows.
If left unresolved, hackers can exploit these unpatched flaws in the voice-activated personal assistant devices and therefore take over these devices while spreading malware as well as establishing a middle-man attack in order to take data or hack into other devices that are on the same home network. BlueBorne is especially attractive to those hackers because Bluetooth-powered devices are the most susceptible to hacking without having to fool users by clicking on malicious links or downloading suspicious files.
BlueBorne, simply put, makes it easier for hackers retrieve data from other devices, given that the hackers are in range of the device.
According to Armis chief executive Yevgeny Dibrov, these airborne threats serve as a wakeup call to the enterprise that traditional security cannot be able to defend against the new methods of attack. They went on to say that every organization has to have visibility over the devices in their environments.
In an effort to be aware of potential threats that could harm devices like the Echo and the Google Home, Armis has released a vulnerability scanning app on the Google Play Store. This can be used to identify which devices can be affected.
Fortunately, for users of these two particular voice-activated devices, both Google and Amazon have already gotten around to combat the BlueBorne threat. In fact, they have already done so a few weeks ago.
A spokesperson from Google said that users do not need to take any action. They have already automatically patched Google Home weeks ago. Neither Google nor Armis have found proof of this attack "in the wild."
A representative of Amazon also released the updates for the Echo recently as well. They said that the device will automatically be updated, to ensure trust between them and the customers as well as to ensure the safety and security of data.
So, for those who own Google Home and/or Amazon Echo, the devices are already patched up against the BlueBorne threats.
