Security Researchers Created a 'Skill' that Allows Alexa to Spy on You

In news that will confirm your worst fears about a device with an always-on microphone in your home, security researchers have created a "skill" for Amazon's popular voice assistant Alexa that allows the device to indefinitely eavesdrop on your conversations. The vulnerability, which Amazon has since patched, was discovered by cybersecurity company Checkmarx. Experts at the firm were able to create a "skill"--Amazon's term for an application for Alexa--that could secretly record a victim and transcribe entire conversations caught on mic. The security researchers hid the malicious task in a seemingly innocuous calculator skill that could be used to solve math problems. Unbeknownst to any victim who installed the skill, asking Alexa to use the app would enable the attack.