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CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

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Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#91

Post by mulmen »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #24
simplemath wrote: post #8

IoT should die a swift and permanent death. Alas, that wont happen.

I'd love to see the INTERNET of Things be replaced by the INTRANET of Things. Remote access can be handled through a VPN, so there's no need for a remote server. I'm assuming that the device in question has computing hardware that's at least on par with a $9 CHIP. What's really needed is for secure and easy to set up VPNs (to connect back to your home network) to become a thing, then the remote access problems are ta…

The VPN does introduce a lot of complication, what if we had publicly routable IP addresses from any network in the world and then just used default deny policies on our firewalls to secure networks and encrypted protocols to secure data?

Someone should really get to work on developing such a technology stack. /s

Sarcasm aside, I completely agree with you and as soon as someone offers iPhone/Siri level functionality in a simple package I think people will eat it up. I know the whole "personal cloud" thing is not new but as people realize the implications of putting all their data in the hands of complete strangers I think the market for such a device will take off.

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#92

Post by bostonvaulter2 »

mulmen wrote: post #84
M_Grey wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile police in a murder case are preparing to take Amazon to court for Echo records. On the privacy front, there's just no saving people, but the IoT brings the magic of invading privacy together with furnishing botnets with millions of new bots! We're screwed coming and going, and the vast majority still look at you like a woodland hermit if you suggest that you shouldn't have anything listening to you in your…

I wonder how much infrastructure is really required to properly support Alexa like capabilities for an individual. Does Amazon really need all of our recordings on their hardware in their data centers? Is it conceivable that we could own that hardware as well? I realize that training data is important and I assume the recorded data gets used for that purpose but does Amazon need to keep it forever? How long do they n…

But even if they say that they're not storing or sending it, how feasible is it to verify that fact?

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#93

Post by nitrogen »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #92
mulmen wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much infrastructure is really required to properly support Alexa like capabilities for an individual. Does Amazon really need all of our recordings on their hardware in their data centers? Is it conceivable that we could own that hardware as well? I realize that training data is important and I assume the recorded data gets used for that purpose but does Amazon need to keep it forever? How long do they n…

But even if they say that they're not storing or sending it, how feasible is it to verify that fact?

Very feasible -- don't plug it into the Internet.

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#94

Post by M_Grey »

nitrogen wrote: post #93
bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But even if they say that they're not storing or sending it, how feasible is it to verify that fact?

Very feasible -- don't plug it into the Internet.

At which point you have a brick with a microphone, and a pretty blue light, right?

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#96

Post by amiller2571 »

M_Grey wrote: post #94
nitrogen wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very feasible -- don't plug it into the Internet.

At which point you have a brick with a microphone, and a pretty blue light, right?

I think the blue lights only show when its connected. You would get pretty red lights

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#97

Post by mulmen »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #92
mulmen wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much infrastructure is really required to properly support Alexa like capabilities for an individual. Does Amazon really need all of our recordings on their hardware in their data centers? Is it conceivable that we could own that hardware as well? I realize that training data is important and I assume the recorded data gets used for that purpose but does Amazon need to keep it forever? How long do they n…

But even if they say that they're not storing or sending it, how feasible is it to verify that fact?

I don't mean to suggest this is something Amazon would bring to market using an Echo. I mean do you really need Amazon/Apple/Microsoft/Google levels of hardware to run a voice interface for an individual's digital assistant?

Is it feasible to install hardware with the capability of Alexa in the standard user's home?

I think the answer to that is probably "yes", more or less. Some things may be a bit harder to do but I don't see why I need a huge black box in the sky to parse my voice or do some geolocation.

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#98

Post by mulmen »

M_Grey wrote: post #94
nitrogen wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very feasible -- don't plug it into the Internet.

At which point you have a brick with a microphone, and a pretty blue light, right?

Not if it is configured to connect to a server in your home with all the data it needs to function.

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#99

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

mulmen wrote: post #91
Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see the INTERNET of Things be replaced by the INTRANET of Things. Remote access can be handled through a VPN, so there's no need for a remote server. I'm assuming that the device in question has computing hardware that's at least on par with a $9 CHIP. What's really needed is for secure and easy to set up VPNs (to connect back to your home network) to become a thing, then the remote access problems are ta…

The VPN does introduce a lot of complication, what if we had publicly routable IP addresses from any network in the world and then just used default deny policies on our firewalls to secure networks and encrypted protocols to secure data? Someone should really get to work on developing such a technology stack. /s Sarcasm aside, I completely agree with you and as soon as someone offers iPhone/Siri level functionality…

Apple is in a good position to do this. Unfortunately, they keep paring down their product line and I could reasonably see them dropping the Airport products.

Maybe the OpenVPN guys can do it? They've got clients for every platform and seem to be present in some consumer-grade routers. Infrastructure-wise, iOS has on-demand VPN capability and I'm sure Android does too.

All the pieces are there, the only thing it needs (as though it's a simple problem - it's not) is someone to wrap it up in a slick and easy-to-use interface.

Re: CloudPets teddy bears leaked and ransomed, exposing kids' voice messages

#100

Post by nitrogen »

M_Grey wrote: post #94
nitrogen wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very feasible -- don't plug it into the Internet.

At which point you have a brick with a microphone, and a pretty blue light, right?

I have some ideas for a more strict but more user friendly household firewall device and corresponding UI, if something really really needs the Internet.

But your lights, TV, etc. don't live in an Amazon datacenter.

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