Hackers can whisper sweet nothings into Vista's ear

Adam Turner
Friday, 02 February 2007 03:00

Opinion and Analysis

Faster than you can say "time to move to Linux" they've found a security flaw in Windows Vista, with hackers able to use voice recognition to hijack Vista PCs.

Microsoft has confessed that those with evil intent could whisper instructions, such as to delete files, to your computer using MP3 downloads or audio embedded in websites.

A Microsoft security researcher has pointed out on a company security blog that, to exploit the vulnerability, microphone and speakers would have to be switched on and the speech recognition feature activated. Such a scenario does not seem that unlikely considering Microsoft is pushing Vista as the perfect companion for work and play - meaning it expects people to use such features at all hours of the day and night.

"There are also additional barriers that would make an attack difficult including speaker and microphone placement, microphone feedback, and the clarity of the dictation," wrote the Microsoft researcher.

The researcher doesn't point out the biggest hurdle to successfully exploiting the vulnerability, the accuracy of Microsoft's voice recognition. Script kiddies might do their best to whisper "All your bases are belong to us" to a Vista box, but they should expect the computer to reply; "Did you say you want to go to Geelong on the bus?".