The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Check Point reveals: Serious security vulnerabilities in Amazon's virtual assistant - Walla! TECH

2020-08-13T10:49:10.968Z


The weaknesses in "Alexa" made it possible to remotely run existing applications on the software, install applications on the software without the victim's knowledge and gain direct access to the information. To the full article


  • TECH
  • news

Check Point reveals: Serious security vulnerabilities in Amazon's virtual assistant

The Israeli cyber security company Check Point reveals serious security vulnerabilities in Alexa. Weaknesses made it possible to remotely run existing applications on the software, install applications without the victim's knowledge, and gain direct access to the information contained therein.

Tags
  • Alexa
  • Amazon

Mikey Levy

Thursday, August 13, 2020, 1:00 p.m.

    0 comments

      Security breach in Amazon's Alexa (Check Point)

      Check Point's information security researchers have uncovered significant security vulnerabilities in the subdomains of Alexa - Amazon's virtual assistant. Weaknesses made it possible to remotely run existing applications on the software, install applications without the victim's knowledge on it as well as gain direct access to information contained on the software, including personal information and call history and actions made through "Alexa".

      More on Walla! NEWS

      From high-tech to government offices: the degree that will open a door for you to a fascinating and exciting world

      In collaboration with Kinneret Academic College

      To the full article

      "Digital devices have become an integral part of our lives, and sometimes we do not feel how much they store sensitive information about us. Hackers are constantly looking for access to such information, spying on people and performing actions that would profit hackers without the victims' knowledge," said Oded Vanunu, head of vulnerability. Products at Check Point.

      Serious security vulnerabilities in Amazon's virtual assistant (Photo: AP)

      To exploit these vulnerabilities, a hacker could send a message with a malicious link to the victim in a way that appears to have been sent from Amazon. By clicking on the link, hackers could achieve the following capabilities - all without the victim's knowledge. Access to the personal information found on the software, including transaction history (banking and other), username, phones and residential address, access to voice commands performed through the software, installation of new applications on the software, removal of applications from the software.

      Alexa is considered one of the most popular virtual assistants in the world, with over 200 million users worldwide, including in Israel. Alexa is capable of producing a very wide range of operations digitally - from remote operation of operations at home or office, to operations in the bank account or other sites. Alexa users can choose for themselves which options and applications to perform through it through voice activation. In this context, Alexa contains a lot of personal information about its users - which makes it a quality target for hackers.

        0 comments

        Source: walla

        All tech articles on 2020-08-13

        You may like

        News/Politics 2024-03-13T11:33:21.770Z

        Trends 24h

        Tech/Game 2024-03-27T18:05:36.686Z

        Latest

        © Communities 2019 - Privacy

        The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
        The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.