Voice recognition technology is futuristic, convenient and--dangerous.
The Google Chrome browser, which has been named the most-used browser worldwide, has a security flaw that can let malicious sites tap into your computer's microphone and hear everything, Gizmodo reported.
The bug is "simple when exploited" and was unearthed by web developer Tal Ater, according to Gizmodo.
Working through Google Chrome's voice control, sites can access your computer through innocent-looking popup ads that activate the microphone.
If you've enabled voice control through the browser to dictate text or record something else, a malicious site can keep the microphone hot and listen in.
According to Gizmodo, full browser tabs will indicate that a site is accessing your microphone, but "smaller banner windows" won't show anything.
Users who have never activated Chrome's voice recognition don't have to worry about this particular security glitch. If you want to use the feature, make sure to activate the microphone only on trusted sites.
Ater, who detailed the exploit online, contacted Google four months ago, and the company confirmed that the system had security flaws.
According to Gizmodo, the voice recognition feature could be exploited as of noon Wednesday.
Gizmodo contacted Google about the security breach and received a statement in response.
"The security of our users is a top priority, and this feature was designed with security and privacy in mind," Google said. "We've re-investigated and this is not eligible for a reward, since a user must first enable speech recognition for each site that requests it. The feature is in compliance with the current W3C specification, and we continue to work on improvements."
While it seems as if the voice recognition feature is working properly, Google is looking for other ways to show that a website is recording, Gizmodo said.
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