Amazon's Alexa has started working again after suffering a sudden outage.
Alexa is back after a morning snooze
The virtual assistant device - which can be used to activate power such as lighting and heating in homes - suffered a power failure on Friday (21.01.2022) which left "thousands" without even being able to unlock their doors, but has since returned to normal.
An Amazon spokesperson has told TechRadar "This morning we had an issue that impacted some Alexa customers' ability to interact with the service. The Alexa service is now operating normally."
Reports of the outage surfaced on Twitter around 07:00GMT on Friday, with several users noting that Alexa was "refusing to acknowledge" them and another claiming to be "sitting in a dark house in the cold where the door won't open" as a result of the issue, and while Amazon did not offer a specific explanation, cyber security insider did not rule out the possibility of a cyber attack.
Jake Moore, Global Cyber Security Advisor at ESET said: "Although it is difficult to predict whether or not this is a cyberattack on Amazon’s servers, it does pose the question of whether or not we are putting too much emphasis on smart technology in our homes. Cyberattacks are still possible despite the increasingly sophisticated anti-malware technology that exists, and therefore we must never become complacent against the possibility of such a hack which can dramatically effect large numbers of people."
The security expert them went on to claim that by putting "all technological eggs in one basket", the point of failure can cause a "huge impact" on daily lives.
He is quoted by the Daily Express as saying: "Once we put all our eggs into one technological basket, there becomes one simple point of failure that can have a huge impact in a smart home and therefore our daily lives. Using smart devices to control lights, heating and other areas of a home is extremely tempting but it is advised to always know if the backup ‘old fashioned’ switches are still applicable."