MPS FEAR CRIMINALS ARE SPYING ON HOMES WITH ALEXA
As Scots sex pest convicted of tapping into Amazon device to stalk victim...
HOUSEHOLDERS have been given a chilling warning that criminals are using Alexa ‘smart devices’ to spy on people in their homes.
MPs have sounded the alert after a Scots sex offender became the first person in the UK to be convicted of using an Amazon Alexa device to snoop on his victim.
The landmark case emerged as a Westminster select committee is holding an inquiry into the growing use – and possible abuse – of smart technology.
Last night the committee’s chairman, Tory MP Julian Knight, said: ‘The innocent little box sitting inconspicuously in the corner of the room would seem to offer the ultimate in convenience.
‘However, there is always the danger it will have a more sinister side, with users potentially sacrificing privacy, put at risk of cyber-crime, or left open to uncovering harmful content online.
‘This disturbing court case highlights
the potential dangers in our own homes of this connected technology.’
Experts have previously called for better education over such devices and told how they should be treated with caution as they are ‘by definition, always listening’.
Serial offender Aaron Herschell, who was jailed in 2017 for attempted rape, linked his Alexa to a similar speaker in his former girlfriend’s home to allow him to surreptitiously listen to her conversations.
At Livingston Sheriff Court last week Herschell, 25, admitted he used a smart device to spy on his ex-partner. The charge stated he connected his ‘Amazon Alexa device’ to hers ‘without her knowledge’ to
‘allow for remote listening’ so he could ‘hear what she was doing’.
He pleaded guilty on Friday to behaving in a ‘threatening or abusive manner’ towards the woman at an address in West Lothian between
May 5 and May 15 this year as well as adopting a fake identity. He will be sentenced later this month.
Herschell, who previously identified as female and changed his first name to Alexis in prison, had a beard and used his male name in court. Sheriff Jane Farquharson, KC, said elements of the charges such as adopting a fake identity and facilitating remote listening raised ‘significant concerns’.
Mr Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, added: ‘This technology is open to abuse, particularly by individuals like this. People need to be careful of how they let this into their lives and the safeguards they take.’ Voice-controlled assistants such as Alexa are supposed to play a warning tone when someone connects remotely via a ‘drop-in’ feature.
However, the sound alert may not be enough to warn a recipient who is not in the same room when the connection is made.
Alexa’s always-on microphone can be muted but that prevents it from hearing the trigger words which activate it. Professor George Loukas, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Greenwich, told the DCMS committee last month: ‘Tech-assisted abuse at home is common nowadays. Looking at the history of audio commands on an Amazon Echo is enough to see what was discussed and requested.
‘At the very least, users should expect that when they do not need to use the smart speaker, it should be switched off.’ Cybercrime expert Simon Moore, of Palo Alto Networks, said: ‘By definition, an Amazon Echo is always listening to you because it is trying to get your “wake” [opening command] word.’
Amazon said: ‘Privacy and security are built into every device, feature and experience. Unfortunately there are rare occasions when some people go to devastating lengths to misuse technology.’