2.5.2 Ensure Listen for (Siri) Is Disabled

Information

macOS includes the Siri digital assistant and if enabled it is always listening in case it is needed. In Sonoma a user may choose either "Hey Siri" or either "Siri" and "Hey Siri." In either case, Siri is using the microphone at all times to listen for instructions and then can record questions once activated. In an organizational environment where people are talking and listening on video/voice calls, there are too many opportunities for unauthorized information disclosure to have a live microphone at all times. If Siri will be used it may be on, with "Listen for" Off and a keyboard shortcut selected.

In most environments there is too much unbounded risk of data spillage with a microphone always on, listening for instruction, and listening for questions if attention is obtained, relying on cloud compute to answer them. There are many examples of data leakage for technology in this space, and future vulnerabilities and bugs are certainly possible.

Solution

Profile Method:

Create or edit a configuration profile with the following information:

- The PayloadType string is com.apple.Siri
- The key to include is set to VoiceTriggerUserEnabled
- The key must be set to <false/>

Note: After testing, this profile will disable Hey Siri only for the first input but not additional inputs. This issues seems to only occur using the Apple Studio Display (and possibly the Pro Display XDR, but no testing has occurred with that device) and it is not the primary input source. We are going to continue testing, but this seems to be an edge case.

Impact:

Siri will not be available for hands-free usage, or not available at all if turned off completely.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15551