These Toys Send What They Hear to a Defense Contractor

My rule of thumb? Don't buy a ton of microphones and stick them in your home. Don't overthink it, just don't do it; there's no really compelling argument in favor of it after all. If you have something like a webcam or a mic, unplug it. Avoid the IoT. Be aware of your cell phone.

The scary thing is not that this happened. The scary thing is how easily this could be going on with any microphone equipped IoT device. How will we continue to monitor for malware and other things that any type of company wants to put on a device? There's just too much IoT right now and most manufacturers lack the infrastructure to cope with this problem.

Thinking about it, I'm sure there are already hackers that have targeted all kinds of IOT devices with microphones trying to get all kinds of information. Blackmail, trade secrets, etc.

You could probably make a bundle in the stock market with the right hacks -- although your trade patterns might eventually get you caught.