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Microsoft Vista is "hearing little voices"

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is claiming "no harm no foul" in a hackers dream scenario which has come to light. It seems Windows Vista may allow would-be evildoers to whisper sweet nothings in your computer's ear and subsequently shut it down and/or delete material. An article at Red Herring exposes an apparent voice recognition loophole in the new Windows Vista operating system. The claim is that it has been shown that a hacker can invade the system... for or with a song.

Microsoft has downplayed the glitch, claiming that it's a small problem and it has similarly been encountered before. If that attitude is intended to make consumers feel better about possible system breeches, I'm afraid that Microsoft has another thing coming. Perhaps MSFT hasn't heard that PC security tops the list of consumer concerns in the IT world. Perhaps I need to send them a scathing letter (place sinister chuckle here).

We need to also consider how this Vista voice recognition glitch may be exploited further down the road. In light of the heavy usage of P2P BitTorrent type technologies for music sharing and similar, what is the potential for nasty audio hacker attacks to become widespread and destructive? If Windows Vista can be manipulated by virtual attacks placed within or alongside a song then just how far can audio-borne hacking go?

Could the theme from the Wizard of Oz direct your computer to upload your bank account numbers? Could the Budweiser jingle destroy your digital image files? Could a Billy Joel ballad crash your hard drive? And Metallica, oh my gosh, what could their stuff instruct your Vista supported computer to do? One thing is for sure, Microsoft had better hit this thing hard and fast. To soft-sell this problem would be to play the fool. Microsoft has too much riding on Windows Vista to simply hope that this problem will somehow resolve itself or simply be ignored.

I just thought of something else also. We have witnessed the far-reaching affects of audio recordings before. What could be the possible outcome if someone got the bright idea to play a Beatles song backwards via Windows Vista? I almost shudder to think about it.

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Last updated: November 26, 2009: 08:18 PM

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