Alexa, What Happened to My Car?
The arrival of voice-controlled assistants in cars raises security and privacy concerns. Depending on automakers' setups, it could expose your information or property.
Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled virtual assistant is the Chatty Cathy of the tech world, a digital darling that consumers can't get enough of. It can tell chicken jokes, order pizza and turn off the kitchen faucet. So it's not surprising that Alexa has made the leap from the home to the car.
But just as Alexa promises added hands-free convenience for drivers, researchers and engineers warn that it also opens new avenues for hacking, tracking and sonic attacks. Depending on how voice-activated assistants are connected, such hacks could range from annoying pranks like opening a car's windows in the rain to dangerous attacks like remotely unlocking a house's doors for a robbery.