They know everything about us. They listen, give us advice, and even follow us on vacation.
But who’s really protecting our digital assistants?
According to a new report by Trend Micro, the devices that speak in a friendly voice and help us live better are increasingly in the crosshairs of cybercriminals.
And it’s not just about stealing our voice or passwords anymore—we’re talking biometric data, medical records, travel plans, personal preferences, and recorded conversations. Everything we share with these assistants can become a weapon in the wrong hands.
The biggest targets? Wellness and travel devices.
AI wellness coaches, for example, analyze heart rate, sleep cycles, and daily habits. Super convenient, sure. But what if someone hacked into that system? They could manipulate health advice or even forge medical data.
Same story with travel assistants: they manage your itinerary, credit cards, hotel preferences. A goldmine for identity thieves.
The risk skyrockets when these devices connect to third-party apps and services.
One weak link in the chain is all it takes to open the door. And from there, it’s game on: targeted phishing, personalized scams, AI-generated deepfake voices made from our own recordings.
Yep—many digital assistants are always listening. And if those recordings aren’t properly secured, they’re a hacker’s dream.
Cybercriminals could intercept everything, clone our voice, trick our relatives, coworkers, or even banks—maybe even instruct our assistant to place orders we never made.
The irony? While AI gets smarter and more autonomous, security often lags behind.
Protections are too often bolted on after a breach—not before.
But that’s not how it should work.
Security systems need to evolve with artificial intelligence, not chase after it.
And we can’t just rely on developers.
We users carry a huge responsibility too: realizing these aren’t harmless gadgets.
They’re powerful, incredibly useful—but they demand awareness.
And we need to stop thinking, “That’ll never happen to me.”
Because if your assistant knows everything about you…
so can whoever hacks it.
