Memory Echo speakers still contains passwords after reset

Researchers at Northeastern University have discovered that the Amazon Echo Dot speakers can still contain passwords even after a reset. This is evident from a study of second-hand Echo speakers obtained.

In a research report the researchers describe how they examined 86 Amazon Echo Dot speakers. In order to read the data from the nand flash memory, the memory had to be removed from the speaker. The memory was then read out with another device. In this way, researchers were able to retrieve information about the Wi-Fi network of the previous owner, as well as passwords, name and account information.

According to the researchers, this is because the data is not erased, but is made unreadable for the speaker. When the memory is subsequently disassembled and read out with an external device, the data is accessible.

This applies to Echo speakers that reset when they are disposed of by the owner, but that doesn’t always happen. 61 percent of the devices surveyed had not been reset by the owner before being sold. This allowed the researchers to access sensitive data without having to disassemble the memory from the PCB.

The researcher also tried to find out the address on second-hand speakers by means of voice commands, but that proved impossible. They could, however, get a good idea of ​​where the speaker had been before by asking about nearby locations such as supermarkets and restaurants.

According to the researchers, this problem is easy to solve. The user data partition could be encrypted, making it much more difficult to access sensitive data.