Researchers find Amazon Alexa flaw exposing personal data to hacking

Much scrutiny has been made of smart speakers, over concerns such devices could be used to record private user activity in the home. Researchers have now pointed to a flaw in Amazon's Alexa system. — Britta Pedersen/dpa

Smart speakers powered by Amazon's Alexa assistant might be an entertaining and handy way to set alarms and turn on music, but it's emerged that Alexa has been left vulnerable to serious hacking attacks.

Security researchers from California have discovered several serious vulnerabilities in Amazon's Alexa language assistance system and its networked speakers that could left users exposed to serious attacks.