Researchers’ app uses phone compass to stop voice hacking
BUFFALO, New York: While convenient, Siri, WeChat and other voice-based smartphone apps can expose you to a growing security threat: voice hacking.
With just a few minutes of audio samples, attackers can replay your voice convincingly enough to trick people as well as top digital security systems.
The consequences, from impersonating you with your friends to dipping into your bank account, are terrifying.
Using only tools already on smartphones, including the compass, a University at Buffalo (UB)-led team of engineers is creating an app to stop voice hacking.
“Every aspect of your life is now on your phone,” said Kui Ren, PhD, director of the Ubiquitous Security and Privacy Research Laboratory (UbiSeC) at UB, and one of the study’s lead authors. “That is your security hub. It is really critical now.”
Ren, a professor of computer science and engineering in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, doesn’t mince words when discussing the importance of better cellphone security.
“Hackers are out there, more than you can imagine. There is a whole underground grey market to sell your password and your personal information,” he said.
The best way to protect your cellphone, he said, is to use several security methods.
“Technology is advancing so fast; we have to think of different ways.
“The strategy is using multiple lines of defence. We call that defence in depth,” he said.
Voice recognition could become a more common security tool because more Internet-connected devices are being developed that do not have keypads, he said.
“With the Internet of things, what is a security interface? It is not like the phone. There is often no touch screen or keypad so voice authentication may be useful.” he said. — Newswise