MPs fear criminals are spying on homes with Alexa: Warning over smart speakers after sex offender became first person in UK to be convicted of using Amazon device to snoop on his victim

• e-mail

Householders have been given a chilling warning that criminals are using Alexa ‘smart devices’ to spy on people in their homes.

MPs have sounded the alert after a Scots sex offender became the first person in the UK to be convicted of using an Amazon Alexa device to snoop on his victim.

The landmark case emerged as a Westminster select committee is holding an inquiry into the growing use – and possible abuse – of smart technology.

Last night the committee’s chairman, Tory MP Julian Knight, said: ‘The innocent little box sitting inconspicuously in the corner of the room would seem to offer the ultimate in convenience.

‘However, there is always the danger it will have a more sinister side, with users potentially sacrificing privacy, put at risk of cyber-crime, or left open to uncovering harmful content online.

‘This disturbing court case highlights the potential dangers in our own homes of this connected technology.’

Experts have previously called for better education over such devices and told how they should be treated with caution as they are ‘by definition, always listening’.

Serial offender Aaron Herschell, who was jailed in 2017 for attempted rape, linked his Alexa to a similar speaker in a former acquaintance’s home to allow him to surreptitiously listen to her conversations.

Serial offender Aaron Herschell, (pictured in 2017) previously jailed for attempted rape, linked his Alexa to a similar speaker in a former acquaintance's home to allow him to listen to her conversations

Alexa’s always-on microphone can be muted but that prevents it from hearing the trigger words which activate it

Tory MP Julian Knight warned about the potential risk of cyber-crime with smart devices

Star Trek inspires Alexa's household invasion 

An Amazon Echo smart device

In less than ten years, the Alexa device has risen to become a household staple in millions of homes around Britain.

The voice-activated smart speaker allows users to choose music, set reminders or even turn on the lights in a room.

It also responds to questions such as, ‘Alexa, what’s the weather like?’, by sourcing an answer via the internet and responding in its now-familiar soft, female voice.

They can also be connected to other ‘smart’ devices such as security alarms, allowing users to remotely lock the front door.

Appropriately for such a sci-fi invention, its creators were inspired by Star Trek.

David Limp, the Amazon boss who oversaw the initiative, said the device was intended to replicate the Starship Enterprise’s onboard computer.

Alexa’s name is intended to evoke Egypt’s Great Library of Alexandria, which was once regarded as the capital of knowledge and learning. The best-known version is the Amazon Echo line

They came out in 2014 and 65 million were sold globally last year.

Advertisement

At Livingston Sheriff Court last week Herschell, 25, admitted he used a smart device to spy on a former acquaintance. The charge stated he connected his ‘Amazon Alexa device’ to hers ‘without her knowledge’ to ‘allow for remote listening’ so he could ‘hear what she was doing’.

He pleaded guilty on Friday to behaving in a ‘threatening or abusive manner’ towards the woman at an address in West Lothian between May 5 and May 15 this year as well as adopting a fake identity. He will be sentenced later this month.

Herschell, who previously identified as female and changed his first name to Alexis in prison, had a beard and used his male name in court. Sheriff Jane Farquharson, KC, said elements of the charges such as adopting a fake identity and facilitating remote listening raised ‘significant concerns’.

Mr Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, added: ‘This technology is open to abuse, particularly by individuals like this. People need to be careful of how they let this into their lives and the safeguards they take.’ Voice-controlled assistants such as Alexa are supposed to play a warning tone when someone connects remotely via a ‘drop-in’ feature.

However, the sound alert may not be enough to warn a recipient who is not in the same room when the connection is made.

Alexa’s always-on microphone can be muted but that prevents it from hearing the trigger words which activate it. Professor George Loukas, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Greenwich, told the DCMS committee last month: ‘Tech-assisted abuse at home is common nowadays. Looking at the history of audio commands on an Amazon Echo is enough to see what was discussed and requested.

‘At the very least, users should expect that when they do not need to use the smart speaker, it should be switched off.’ Cybercrime expert Simon Moore, of Palo Alto Networks, said: ‘By definition, an Amazon Echo is always listening to you because it is trying to get your “wake” [opening command] word.’

Amazon said: ‘Privacy and security are built into every device, feature and experience. Unfortunately there are rare occasions when some people go to devastating lengths to misuse technology.’