DAS UK: Cyber security information for voice assistants

DAS UK has become the first legal expenses insurer to launch a suite of cyber security information and guidance for the virtual assistants Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

UK customers and the general public can ask their voice-activated Google Home or Amazon Echo device a range of questions regarding cyber security with the responses helping them to understand cyber risks, learn how to stay safe online, and know what to do if things go wrong.

Both the Google and Amazon assistants communicate using a question and answer structure, covering topics such as ‘How do I stay safe online?’; ‘How can I tell if a website is genuine?’; ‘What can I do if I’ve been tricked into giving out my account details?’; and, ‘How can cyber insurance help with cybercrime?’

The DAS Cyber Security action or skill is available to anyone who has a Google Home account or an Amazon Echo and will be free to download from both the Google and Amazon stores.

Earlier this year DAS became the world’s first legal expenses insurer to launch a legal expenses insurance skill for the Amazon Alexa, enabling customers to ask various questions regarding common legal issues such as disputes with neighbours, employment tribunals and redundancy.

Kevin Neal, Head of Strategy & Innovation, DAS UK Group, said: “Technology is changing how we work and play, with a wide range of digital platforms and ‘smart’ devices helping us to communicate, shop, interact, and share information in ever more dynamic ways. It’s a truly exciting landscape but one that introduces new and evolving threats that we need to be aware of; such as different types of malware or social engineering scams. It’s important for everyone to properly understand what these risks are, know how to avoid problems, and to be able to fix things quickly if they do happen.  It’s fairly easy to get the basics right, but unfortunately most people aren’t doing so at the moment.”