7 ms·

This is a cool attack, but I'm not sure where you got "$14" from. The laser pointers were $18 for a pack of 3, but you need a separate laser driver like the $30

by sp332 7y ago

This is a cool attack, but I'm not sure where you got "$14" from. The laser pointers were $18 for a pack of 3, but you need a separate laser driver like the $300 one the authors used, and probably an audio amplifier as well. There are some videos of the attack at https://lightcommands.com/ https://lightcommands.com/

ron0c 7y ago
Exactly. Title says "$14" and then show this as the setup: https://i.imgur.com/SYUSIDs.png https://i.imgur.com/SYUSIDs.png
- phailhaus 7y ago
  "Google Assistant can be hijacked by a $2 pack of screws!"
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- knowaveragejoe 7y ago
  If you scroll further down, they show a significantly cheaper setup.
- dkonofalski 7y ago
  So your typical Reddit/Hacker News new computer build. "$300 for the whole thing. (Note: This doesn't include the GPU, motherboard, case, or monitor that I already had prior to building.)"
thsowers 7y ago
Agree, title should be more like "Light Commands: Laser-Based Audio Injection Attacks on Voice-Controllable Systems"
- Someone1234 7y ago
  Particularly as this isn't exclusive to smart assistants. They found the same could be used against phones and tablets (as slightly higher power due to the lower sensitivity of the microphones).
  - excalibur 7y ago
    Yes, but it's targeting the aforementioned software regardless of device. (Not that the HN title isn't terrible, I agree with thsowers on using the title from the actual paper.)
    - sp332 7y ago
      I think it's extendable, like adding extra voices to a phone call.
hanniabu 7y ago
I foresee a market for decorative chotskies with open centers that sit over the mic to prevent these peripheral attacks.
eeZah7Ux 7y ago
Modulating a laser at audio frequencies is pretty trivial. You can probably inject the signal straight from the headphone output of a smartphone into the right pad in the laser pointer with a decoupling resistor and inline capacitor. ...if you don't care about audio quality and longevity of the laser. http://www.yak.net/fqa/229.html http://www.yak.net/fqa/229.html
kordlessagain 7y ago
Clickbait PDF
- thih9 7y ago
  To be fair, the PDF's title is different, "Light Commands: Laser-Based Audio Injection Attacks on Voice-Controllable Systems". Maybe we should change this submission's title to the PDF's title.
brudgers 7y ago
Stipulating that $14 might be off by as much as two orders of magnitude, cost remains an insignificant barrier for any adversary with access to a credit card.
dang 7y ago
We changed the title from "Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa can be hijacked with $14 laser pointer". Submitters: please don't editorialize like that. It breaks the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

by sp332 7y ago

ron0c 7y ago

Exactly. Title says "$14" and then show this as the setup: https://i.imgur.com/SYUSIDs.png https://i.imgur.com/SYUSIDs.png

phailhaus 7y ago
"Google Assistant can be hijacked by a $2 pack of screws!"
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
knowaveragejoe 7y ago
If you scroll further down, they show a significantly cheaper setup.
dkonofalski 7y ago
So your typical Reddit/Hacker News new computer build. "$300 for the whole thing. (Note: This doesn't include the GPU, motherboard, case, or monitor that I already had prior to building.)"

thsowers 7y ago

Agree, title should be more like "Light Commands: Laser-Based Audio Injection Attacks on Voice-Controllable Systems"

Someone1234 7y ago
Particularly as this isn't exclusive to smart assistants. They found the same could be used against phones and tablets (as slightly higher power due to the lower sensitivity of the microphones).
- excalibur 7y ago
  Yes, but it's targeting the aforementioned software regardless of device. (Not that the HN title isn't terrible, I agree with thsowers on using the title from the actual paper.)
  - sp332 7y ago
    I think it's extendable, like adding extra voices to a phone call.

hanniabu 7y ago

I foresee a market for decorative chotskies with open centers that sit over the mic to prevent these peripheral attacks.

eeZah7Ux 7y ago

Modulating a laser at audio frequencies is pretty trivial. You can probably inject the signal straight from the headphone output of a smartphone into the right pad in the laser pointer with a decoupling resistor and inline capacitor. ...if you don't care about audio quality and longevity of the laser. http://www.yak.net/fqa/229.html http://www.yak.net/fqa/229.html

kordlessagain 7y ago

Clickbait PDF

thih9 7y ago
To be fair, the PDF's title is different, "Light Commands: Laser-Based Audio Injection Attacks on Voice-Controllable Systems". Maybe we should change this submission's title to the PDF's title.

brudgers 7y ago

Stipulating that $14 might be off by as much as two orders of magnitude, cost remains an insignificant barrier for any adversary with access to a credit card.

dang 7y ago

We changed the title from "Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa can be hijacked with $14 laser pointer". Submitters: please don't editorialize like that. It breaks the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html