Radio Waves Can Control Siri, Google Now

It looks as though anything that is of the digital age is never 100% secure, although it sure is a whole lot more secure than storing your password on a written piece of paper. Still, this does not mean that we do not do our part in making sure that the best security practices are adhered to. When it comes to Apple’s Siri and Google Now, it seems that there is a new hack that will be able to make use of radio waves to gain control.

The hacked iPhone or Android handset will require its headphones to be plugged in, where the hack will then be able to remotely and silently access the smartphone’s built-in voice controls, without the user being any wiser for it. French government agency ANSSI’s researchers discovered that they could control Apple’s Siri or Android’s Google Now from a distance of up to 16 feet away, where this hack is made possible with a radio transmitter that will tap into a pair of headphones which carry an integrated microphone that remains plugged into the mobile device.

The headphone cable will function as an antenna, and this scenario can be exploited to let the Android or iOS device into believing that the audio commands actually originate from the connected microphone. Scary isn’t it – without having to actually speak a single work, such a form of radio attack can instruct Siri or Google Now to make a phone call, send a text, send the phone’s browser to a malware site – the possibilities are many.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: google now, Hacking, Siri