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Old 09-20-2018, 02:52 PM   #1
tubemonkey
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Amazon Event - New Echo/Alexa Devices Announced

Amazon introduces a ton of new Alexa-enabled products, including a microwave and car gadget

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The company announced a new Echo Dot, its most popular Echo speaker. The Echo Dot is best selling speaker of all-time, according to Amazon senior vice president of devices and services David Limp.

The new Echo Dot, which will cost $49.99, will be 70 percent louder and have clearer sound. It will have an industrial design, and the fabric face will come in multiple colors. Orders for the new Echo Dot start on Thursday, and it will ship next month to every country Alexa is available.

Amazon also announced a new Echo Plus, which has cleaner sound and better bass. It too will have a fabric design, as well as an internal temperature sensor. This new model will build on last year's smart home hub, and will add lock controls so home commands will still work even if the WiFi is unavailable. It will cost $149, with orders starting Thursday. It will ship later this month.

Echo Show will get an upgrade with a 10-inch HD display, fabric body, and improved sound. It will have dual side-firing speakers, and an eight microphone array. Bonus features include integration with Vevo for music videos and Hulu with live TV, as well as Microsoft Skype for video calling. Amazon Silk and Firefox browsers will also be included. It will sell for $229, with pre-orders starting Thursday. It will start shipping next month.
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Old 09-20-2018, 04:46 PM   #2
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And a wall clock. And a stereo. And DVR.

They are all-in on Alexa and home automation.

Last edited by jhowell; 09-20-2018 at 04:48 PM.
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Old 09-20-2018, 07:18 PM   #3
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And a wall clock. And a stereo. And DVR.

They are all-in on Alexa and home automation.
Sub-woofer, Amplifier, smart plug, microwave oven.
At last report there are 20,000 Alexa-compatible gadgets and 50,000 skills.

The power of free.
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Old 09-20-2018, 08:44 PM   #4
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As this "internet of things" spreads more and more, I would urge people to learn more about their router. You want to keep these "things" off the same network as your computers, laptops, etc. You have a major security hole if you allow these devices - that all use an internet connection - to be on the same network with your computers.

Investigate and learn things on your router to maintain separate networks. Often, router documentation will refer to this as a "guest network". More technically accurate terms might be "Virtual network", "Virtual LAN", or "VLAN". You also might see "Virtual WiFi".

The goal is to get all the IOT ("Internet of Things") devices off of your main network and isolated to a separate network where they cannot do you harm. This VLAN is where you should put your Alexa devices, your refrigerator, your thermostat, and all that other non-human stuff that uses an internet connection.

Some IOT devices are harder to separate from your home network (LAN). Things like a Roku or FireTV device. If you're running your own media server (Plex, etc.) then these streaming devices will need to access the network where your media server lives. Note that I didn't say they have to be on the same network necessarily, just be able "to access it". You can and should create very strict firewall rules so that you limit the activities these IOT devices can do when connected to your media server or whatever.

You most certainly don't want one of these cool Alexa devices on your home LAN (put it on a VLAN instead). Otherwise Amazon can come in remotely and access your LAN, and all your computers connected there. Even if you trust Amazon not to do that, do you trust the hordes of hackers who are no doubt trying to find a way into Alexa?

If you don't know how to address these massive security holes yourself, do some learning if technical enough, or find a computer geek friend who is knowledgeable about security to help you out.
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Old 09-21-2018, 01:46 AM   #5
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None of this stuff matters if Alexa doesn't understand you. I'll stick with Google.
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Old 09-21-2018, 01:54 AM   #6
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If you don't know how to address these massive security holes yourself, do some learning if technical enough, or find a computer geek friend who is knowledgeable about security to help you out.


so amazon could sneak into my network and see all our home photos & movies...

which are in amazon cloud drive anyway...

...& Why should a hacker be wanting to get into an alexa device. There's nothing IN there. just a speaker in an empty box that can talk to amazon servers...

what a silly post, you don't like Alexa, don't buy it, [ & delete everything you ever got from Google & live offline ]

you do realise that you posting here means that the the Amazon black ops hacker army is now out to DOX you
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Old 09-21-2018, 04:31 AM   #7
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...& Why should a hacker be wanting to get into an alexa device. There's nothing IN there. just a speaker in an empty box that can talk to amazon servers...
... and get access to all of the other devices on your network, unless you have segregated them. They would be targeted as a way to get at other devices. They are good targets because they are easy to get hold of and test to find exploits, and there are so many of them deployed.

Last edited by murraypaul; 09-21-2018 at 04:35 AM.
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Old 09-21-2018, 04:42 AM   #8
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Er...well there are these things called firewalls. All my PCs have them. so does my router

and what's there to get at anyway? nothing can write to my devices over LAN , without credentials, and there is nothing of interest to read in any shared folders.

If you must spread FUD, at least try to back it up with some relevant facts. Link to a report of a successful "via alexa" or "via google home" hack if you can find any evidence of one.

Meanwhile - feel free to unplug yours. Mine stays on. ask it to say "Honey I'm home" if you can hack it

PS maybe if you tried really really hard you could maliciously burn the popcorn ?

"Amazon has unveiled a microwave that can be controlled using its Alexa voice assistant."

Last edited by stumped; 09-21-2018 at 04:55 AM.
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Old 09-21-2018, 05:03 AM   #9
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... and get access to all of the other devices on your network... They are good targets because they are easy to get hold of and test to find exploits, and there are so many of them deployed.
There are thousands and thousands of Kindles deployed - easy to get hold of and test...but I have yet to read any daft posts saying don't connect one to your wifi- your home network is at risk..
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Old 09-21-2018, 05:26 AM   #10
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There are thousands and thousands of Kindles deployed - easy to get hold of and test...but I have yet to read any daft posts saying don't connect one to your wifi- your home network is at risk..
I guess one minor problem is that with an explosion of number of devices comes an explosion of possible different holes in your security. If everything is connected, then everything needs to be maintained in the same way the relatively few gadgets now on networks are.
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Old 09-21-2018, 06:01 AM   #11
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it maybe comes down to "what have you got to hide"
if you don't keep your banking passwords in clear text in notepad on your desktop what's the hackers target ?
and why bother to hack via all these new things connected to the router, when they could just hack the router instead? - everyday seems to bring another well publicised loophole and how-to for doing that

but back to content, assuming you have secured all of your your logins/passwords then what does that leave?: Surely not your digital books, music, videos etc .There are thousands of dodgy sites offering copies of all of that stuff anyway which are much easier to access - & if its those embarrassing nude selfies well you could just stop taking them
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Old 09-21-2018, 06:48 AM   #12
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I hope the hackers don't hack my refrigerator and have it ship my food to themselves.
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Old 09-21-2018, 07:12 AM   #13
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I hope the hackers don't hack my refrigerator and have it ship my food to themselves.
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Hopefully they don't hack your refrigerator and raise the temperature. There are weird and malicious people out there.

Most of these cloud services have a bit of a problem. They want into the China market, but China won't let them in without being able to monitor the network traffic. There is a big debate about it in security circles right now.
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Old 09-21-2018, 07:58 AM   #14
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Most current IOT gadgets are from outfits that are new to internet connectivity and security and blindly use old opensource/freeware code without vetting or patching to fix known vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities make the gadgets ripe for infiltration by botnet malware operators. Like these:

https://www.wired.com/story/reaper-i...lion-networks/

Quote:

...researchers at the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360 and the Israeli firm Check Point detailed the new IoT botnet, which builds on portions of Mirai’s code, but with a key difference: Instead of merely guessing the passwords of the devices it infects, it uses known security flaws in the code of those insecure machines, hacking in with an array of compromise tools and then spreading itself further. And while Reaper hasn’t been used for the kind of distributed denial of service attacks that Mirai and its successors have launched, that improved arsenal of features could potentially allow it to become even larger—and more dangerous—than Mirai ever was.

“The main differentiator here is that while Mirai was only exploiting devices with default credentials, this new botnet is exploiting numerous vulnerabilities in different IoT devices. The potential here is even bigger than what Mirai had,” says Maya Horowitz, the manager of Check Point’s research team. “With this version it’s much easier to recruit into this army of devices.”

The Reaper malware has pulled together a grab-bag of IoT hacking techniques that include nine attacks affecting routers from D-Link, Netgear, and Linksys, as well as internet-connected surveillance cameras, including those sold by companies like Vacron, GoAhead, and AVTech. While many of those devices have patches available, most consumers aren’t in the habit of patching their home network router, not to mention their surveillance camera systems.
We're in the early stages of an IOT goldrush and things will only get worse before they get better. Not all IOT gadgets are quick and dirty rush jobs but all software has bugs (even firewalls) and even the highest quality software will be penetrated. The question is how the vendor will respond and how the consumers will manage these devices. Managing *will* be required. At least in the near term and possibly into the longer term.

The "safest" approach is to run multiple networks. Keep the IOT network separate from the "mission critical" side so that when the IOT network is penetrated it won't expose your data. Remember that not all network devices *need* internet access. Home servers with your ebooks, ripped CDs and DVDs (if any) can be connected to a strictly local network that doesn't go outside the house. Ditto for security networks; consider the actual need for remote monitoring. Also consider using a different device for home banking, shopping, etc, from the daily net surfing device.

The odds of getting burned are still low but it is best to give security some thought from the beginning. There is real value in connected gadgets and resistance is futile. Eventually you will own one or more, if you don't already.
The issues are real.
It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Be careful, folks.
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Old 09-21-2018, 10:08 AM   #15
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Oh, "one more thing".

Lost in the flurry of announcements is the big reveal of the day: some Echo devices have the ability to execute "Local commands", simple functions like turning on lights or activating smart plugs, without internet access.

I'm thinking it's a sign of things to come. Probably an AlexaBox, a standalone, internet optional, dedicated voice processing unit. Essentially a PC with custom "AI" chips to run the smart devices in the house with no need for cloud services.

I doubt it'll be soon but AWS does have those chips already. So do Microsoft and Google.
The way to a true smart house is becoming clearer. Hopefully it won't get too smart, like SARAH.
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