Ultrasonic hack ‘DolphinAttack’ sends inaudible voice commands to Siri, Alexa

‘Hackers can take control of smart devices using ultrasonic frequencies the human ear cannot detect, according to a new study. Tablets, phones or even in-car interfaces with major voice recognition platforms are all at risk.
Researchers at Zhejiang University published a white paper last Thursday detailing how they were able to attack devices like phones, tablets, and even in-car interfaces using a completely inaudible frequency.
The DolphinAttack uses ultrasonic frequencies to access speech recognition systems such as Siri, Cortana or Alexa. Voice controllable systems (VCS) allow users to control a device with simple voice commands, such as “hey Siri. Open Google.com” with Apple devices or “Alexa, what’s the weather like today?” with Amazon Echo.
Most devices have a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) microphone, which contains a membrane, or a movable plate that vibrates in response to air pressure changes caused by sound waves. The device records those vibrations and converts them into an electrical signal that can be turned back into sound waves on the receiving end.’
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