|
After years of "No way would I put an Amazon listening device into my home!", I decided "Why not? We don't talk about anything sensitive." It's not like many people are verbally rattling off their social security numbers, bank account numbers, and passwords on a routine basis. My initial resistance came from decades of work in the computer industry, some of those in network and server security.
I added several Alexa devices (Echo Dots) around the house and put them all on a separate VLAN so any potential hackers would not be able to get to our computers on the primary LAN. It is very convenient when cooking to say "Alexa, set a steak timer for 7 minutes." Then "Alexa, set a corn timer for 5 minutes." Then "Alexa, what temperature do you bake salmon at?" And then at night, "Alexa, turn off downstairs lights." "Alexa, set an alarm for 8am." And when I run out of something in the kitchen, "Alexa, tell Our Groceries to add milk." and have that show up on my phone while I'm in the grocery store.
So I went from "Never, not in my house!" to "Seven Echo Dots? I think that's enough for now. But I have spares if one goes bad." If you wait for Amazon's frequent sales, an Echo Dot is like $10 or less.
Bottom line: There are plenty of easier and more productive ways to steal people's personal information than listening in on random Alexa devices hoping someone will suddenly vocalize their name and social security number for some unknown reason.
Smug people will say, "I'm more secure than to have that stuff in my house." But just ask them, "But do you have an internet connection into your house?" Then watch them hem and haw. Most likely, they won't even know enough about security to realize they should be hemming and hawing in the first place. If you really want security, you've got to disconnect the internet. Period. But that's a bridge too far for most people, including some that claim they are security conscious. "Well, other than that, I am secure." Right.
|