from Hacker News

Amazon Dash Button's Wireless Audio Configuration

by mavci on 12/21/16, 9:21 PM with 33 comments

• by grogenaut on 12/21/16, 10:49 PM

  It doesn't work with android because of the wide variety of speakers and microphones on android vs the very few for ios. Many android phones can't even emit or record ultrasound.

• by brian-armstrong on 12/22/16, 11:00 AM

  If anyone wants to play with an audio modem which can run ASK (PSK and QAM too!) then try https://github.com/quiet which has Android and JS bindings

  End shameless plug :)

• by packetized on 12/22/16, 1:13 AM

  I'd be interested to know how much potential advertising data is collected via these microphones.

  Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10562207

• by ec109685 on 12/22/16, 7:49 AM

  Should Amazon have encrypted this transmission in some way or is the volume low enough that a plain text transmission of the wifi password not pose a threat?

• by icefox on 12/22/16, 12:02 AM

  Now the question is if there is a exploit in the rom and by crafting your own audio you can make the device much more interesting.

• by wrigby on 12/22/16, 5:28 AM

  I thought this was really cool, and you don't even need a Dash button to repeat it (just the app). I threw a mic on my desk and recorded the output real quick, and sure enough, it's pretty easy to see the waveform. I was going to post the wav file, but without knowing a bit more about how the Dash links to my Amazon account, I'm a bit hesitant.

  I'm going to have a run at reproducing this in Python. Should be fun!

• by kylehotchkiss on 12/22/16, 12:17 AM

  incredible work, jay! I like how you described everything.

  I think it's going to be interesting when the Amazon dash buttons end up playing a role in next big DDOS...

• by jelder on 12/22/16, 12:06 AM

  I wonder how many tens of thousands of people have now unknowingly installed internet-connected microphones in their kitchens, garages, laundry rooms, and bathrooms.