Study: Your Smartphone Can Be Hacked By Hidden Voice Commands

From News Max.com (Jan. 24):

Researchers at George Washington University and the University of California, Berkeley, found a way for hackers to get into smartphones and steal information using hidden voice commands that sound demonic.

"The severity of a hidden voice command depends upon what commands the targeted device will accept," reads the study, published last summer. "Depending upon the device, attacks could lead to information leakage [e.g., posting the user's location on Twitter], cause denial of service [e.g., activating airplane mode], or serve as a stepping stone for further attacks [e.g., opening a web page hosting drive-by malware]. Hidden voice commands may also be broadcast from a loudspeaker at an event or embedded in a trending YouTube video, compounding the reach of a single attack." [read more]

I watched the video on News Max’s website. The voice does sound creepy! So, if you hear the voice it could be a hacker or even possibly a demon trying to control your phone (just joking! Then again…who knows. Some of those EVPs on the ghost hunting shows do sound demonic. So, I would be weary of going into haunted places with your phone especially places known be infested by demons. But I digress…)

The article doesn’t mention Windows phones. I wonder if those phones can be hacked the same way? Kind of scary.