Siri and Android devices fall victim to remote control hacking trick

Hackers using the "silent remote voice command" to tell Apple’s Siri what to do (such as stealing user data) can apparently do the same thing to Android devices.

They can remotely take over an Android device using the same radio wave hacking technique that’s been given the name "silent remote voice command". This technique was first used to deceive Siri into revealing personal data on Apple iPhones, and uses headphones to send voice commands to a Siri phone nearby.

Although the hack sounds complex, it actually turns out to be relatively easy. The only items hackers need are an antenna, a USRP software-defined radio, an amplifier and a laptop.

And now, there are reports hackers can do the same thing to Android devices by exploiting Google Now.

The fact that Siri can be tricked into becoming “unfaithful” to its owner was proven in a video created by French security researchers Chaouki Kasmi and Jose Lopes Esteves. As seen in the video they created, Siri took remote commands even if the commands didn’t come from the device’s owner.

What makes matters worse is that remotely controlling someone's Siri becomes possible as long as hackers are in close range of the device, reported Tech Times.

Kasmi and Esteves are both members of the French Network and Information Security Agency. Considering it was they who figured out that such hack is possible, it seems logical that they also gave a full explanation of the technique, which can be viewed here.

The trick involves the use of plugged-in headphones to send the voice commands to Siri via radio waves. This technique was presented in a recent hack conference in Paris.

"To design such an emitter, open source software for software-defined radio is publicly available," Kasmi told CBS News. "Thus, the design of the source is very simple and cheap, with regards to open source software and hardware."

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