Microsoft Cortana

2019: Closing of versions for iOS and Android

In the middle of November, 2019 it became known that Microsoft closes versions of applications of the voice Cortana assistant for the competing operating systems — iOS and Android. Completely the American company does not intend to refuse this project.

The first — with the end of January, 2020 — - and to IOS-VERSIONS of Cortana users in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and also India, China, Mexico, Spain and Germany will lose access to Android. Further this list of the countries will extend, but specific terms are not specified.

To make Cortana of the most useful, we embed Cortana in our productivity applications Microsoft 365, says the company more deeply.

Cortana will also disappear from Microsoft application of Launcher. Users will still be able to get access to the created content through Cortana in Windows. Reminders, lists and tasks of Cortana are automatically synchronized with the To Do application which can be installed on the smartphone free of charge, says Microsoft.^[1]

2018

The defect of security in Cortana allows to crack your PC

Information security experts and hackers constantly try to find holes and holes which will allow them to get on computers. And as Cortana is rather new, this virtual assistant is under close attention^[2].

Of course, the lack of security which allows hackers to crack the PC with Windows 10 was detected, using voice commands of Cortana even while it is blocked. The problem is in what Cortana constantly "listens" to. Though it is also intended to facilitate our life, it turns out that any can send voice commands to the computer.

Usually it would be impossible to install the malware or to crack the computer until it is blocked. But Cortana bypasses normal security measures, allowing the hacker to execute commands which will set the malware.

Do not panic yet

Cortana cannot force to download the malware from the Internet or from other computers, but it can be used for start of scripts and other executable files from the USB device, for example, of "flash card". It is at the same time good and bad news. Bad – because Cortana it is possible to deceive to install the malware, and good – because it can be done only at physical access to your computer.

If you can hold hackers outside your house, then they will not be able to get access to your computer. Also there are no proofs to the fact that the error in Cortana was already used by hackers.

Protect yourself

Because chances to fall the victim as a result of this hacker equipment are still small, it does not mean that you should not take certain steps for own protection. First, you should disconnect Cortana on the blocking screen: you can find the complete management^[3] here]. Consider that Cortana will normally work after your computer is unblocked.

The blocking bypass method in Windows 10 using Cortana is detected

One of basic precautionary measures using which the user can protect contents of the computer from the strangers having to it physical access is the password. After a certain absence period of activity a system is blocked and for its unblocking it is required to enter the passwordthe blocking bypass method in Windows 10 using Cortana Is detected.

Independent Israeli researchers of Tala Beeri (Tal Be'ery) and Amichai Shulman found a blocking screen bypass method in Windows 10 using the built-in voice Cortana assistant. As researchers detected, the voice assistant to Cortana always included reacts to some commands even if the computer is in sleep mode and is blocked.

According to them, the malefactor with physical access to the computer can connect to it USB with the network adapter, and then give Cortana a voice command to be connected to the browser and to visit the website without support of https. As such websites do not cipher traffic, the network adapter can intercept a session and open the harmful website from where on a system without the knowledge of the user the malware will be loaded in the browser.

"We can connect the computer to the network controlled by us and using voice commands to force the blocked computer to interact with our network in an unsafe way", - researchers reported the Motherboard edition.

The malefactor can also connect the computer to Wi-fi network under control of it. For this purpose it is enough to click on the selected network even if the computer is blocked.

The problem was that the Cortana assistant by default "listened" to commands and opened the browser even in the blocked mode. Researchers announced the opening to Microsoft, and the company corrected this vulnerability.

2017

Integration into Skype

Separate chat of Skype in which the assistant will answer all urgent questions

The Cortana virtual assistant became available in Skype on platforms iOS and Android. The first inhabitants will be able to test the implemented opportunity USA, said in corporation Microsoft on October 10, 2017.

Thanks to contextual analysis of messages in a chat Cortana will be able to offer the user useful information, for example, the nearest restaurant or the most convenient session of the movie. As envisioned by developers, it considerably will simplify communication as will allow not to switch between different applications for search of the necessary data. Besides, Cortana will help to support a conversation, providing answer options that will allow to react quickly and easily to any messages, without using the keyboard.

In addition, the assistant helps to plan day. It defines when the person speaks about future events or meetings and enters a reminder to the calendar which is displayed on all devices of the user equipped with the digital assistant to Cortana.

Besides, now it is possible to talk to Cortana directly, especially for it in Skype there was a separate chat in which the assistant will be able to answer all urgent questions of the user, such how is the weather or a name of the leading actor in the movie.

Integration with Alexa

At the end of August, 2017 it became known that the companies Microsoft and Amazon signed the agreement on cooperation and conduct works on integration of voice Cortana assistants (Microsoft) and Alexa (Amazon).^[4]

Microsoft and Amazon decided to make friends the voice assistants

Alexa mainly "lives" in Echo smart loudspeakers, and Cortana — the assistant on Windows devices. According to the results of integration electronic assistants will be able to give each other voice commands. For example, the user will be able to ask "Cortana, open Alexa" and vice versa. Users of Alexa will be able to get access to settings of introduction of records to the calendar, users of Cortana — to control of "smart" devices and the order of goods for Amazon.com.

It is planned that users of computers running Windows 10 will be able to start service from Amazon using Cortana by the end of 2017. Later such opportunity will appear on mobile devices based on Android and iOS. Cortana will become available on Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show devices. All information can be obtained and changed voice commands.

The head of Amazon Jeff Bezos and the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella expect that specific features of assistants will be useful to users — for example, Cortana works better with Outlook as both services belong to Microsoft.

According to analytical company EMarketer, Amazon about 70% are in the lead in the market of "smart" home loudspeakers from shares, having sold already more than one million Echo models. In turn, according to Microsoft, Cortana on Windows 10 actively use over 145 million people.

The most exact system of speech recognition

On August 20, 2017 Microsoft announced how the company claims, creation of the most exact system of speech recognition in the world. Development will find application in many products of software giant.

According to the message in the official blog of Microsoft, the system of recognition of informal conversation developed by division of Microsoft Artificial Intelligence and Research makes only 5.1% of mistakes that is the smallest indicator in the world. The company set up the previous record (5.9%) in 2016. Earlier in 2017 IBM announced the 5.5 percent accuracy of speech recognition.

Start of Cortana service on the Nokia smartphone

It was succeeded to improve results of Microsoft due to completion of neural networks on the basis of acoustic and language models. Now the technology uses the content of all conversation to foretell what words or phrases will be the following.

We improved language recognition model, using the history of all dialog to foretell what can occur further, allowing model to adapt effectively to a subject and a certain context of a conversation, says Microsoft.

For assessment of opportunities of the artificial intelligence distinguishing a human talk, Microsoft applies Switchboard technique assuming system testing on the basis of  2400 telephone conversations. This method is used for similar tasks since  the beginning of the 1990th years.

Microsoft notes that the company intends to achieve speech recognition accuracy, as at  the people doing printout of an audio recording. At the same time an ultimate goal for which the company in the researches strives about 25 years is speech recognition with the same accuracy with which the person understands it.

The system of speech recognition of Microsoft is used not only in the voice Cortana assistant, but also in such services as Presentation Translator and Microsoft Cognitive Services.^[5]

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Notes