PC killed the TV star

[polycrac]

So this was on the news today, antivirus warnings for TVs:

Samsung TVs should be regularly virus-checked, the company says

The technology company tweeted its QLED-branded sets should be scanned once every few weeks.

www.bbc.co.uk

I've read the story, and it certainly plays down from the headline but I'm not going to call it clickbait. I know the Tizen OS runs on watches as well as TVs, but that's about all I know. My TV is ancient and rarely on and I have no smartwatch.

Have 'things' really gotten sophisticated enough to be worth attacking? What info do they hold that simply factory resetting isn't an option? I sort of assumed that they were entirely an 'output' device - that maybe someone could spot how many saved 'come dine with me' episodes were on your box but that's all.

Am I naive in thinking the casting device is where the security needs to be, or is it just that people use the TV instead of a casting device, and it holds authentication/payment details itself?

 

[Oussebon]

Many TVs will have mics. Some will have webcams. And I suppose people will log into services like Amazon and other accounts, potentially even their email accounts via the TV's web browser. Or use the same passwords for their email address as their X account and get hacked that way.

And it's a device on the network. If you can get to it, it's presumably easier to attack other devices on the same network.

I dunno though, just guessing.

 

[ubuysa]

Don't they use them in ddos attacks? IOT insecurity makes these kinds of devices a better option for the disaffected and criminally insane to use as bots for these kinds of attacks I think?

The real problem is not the security of the home owner per se, there's not much you can do with an IOT TV, IOT baby monitor, or IOT light switches, etc. to foul up the life of the home owner, but if you can use them in mass ddos attacks without the home owner knowing then everyone else suffers.

This is my beef with those still running Windows XP on Internet connected PCs, and I'll be having the same beef with Windows 7 users next year too. You might seem to be working just fine, but your infected PC (and/or IOT setup) could be causing chaos for the rest of us....

 

[SpyderTracks]

Don't they use them in ddos attacks? IOT insecurity makes these kinds of devices a better option for the disaffected and criminally insane to use as bots for these kinds of attacks I think?

The real problem is not the security of the home owner per se, there's not much you can do with an IOT TV, IOT baby monitor, or IOT light switches, etc. to foul up the life of the home owner, but if you can use them in mass ddos attacks without the home owner knowing then everyone else suffers.

This is my beef with those still running Windows XP on Internet connected PCs, and I'll be having the same beef with Windows 7 users next year too. You might seem to be working just fine, but your infected PC (and/or IOT setup) could be causing chaos for the rest of us....

We've just upgraded a lot of an NHS clients PC's to windows 10 from 7.

They phoned up and complained saying it was too complicated and wanted 7 put back on.

We explained why it had to be updated. They still complained.

It's not a big learning curve to 10 at all, in fact the search function makes it much easier than 7 to navigate.

IMHO, it's the same with IOT devices. The first Gen didn't have any kind of security considerations at all, but people still use them. They should be disabled from the manufacturers as they are a monumental security risk for DDOS botnets. People still using these devices should be seeking a refund from the manufacturers and upgrade to at least 2nd Gen but preferably 3rd Gen.

Samsung, IMHO release great hardware, but their software is always awful, both in reliability and security. Samsung phones have just been publicly shamed by Google for having malware embedded in the update ROMS. This is not a one off either, they've always been defective and their updates are always years out of date. Never buy Samsung.

 

[ubuysa]

Samsung, IMHO release great hardware, but their software is always awful, both in reliability and security. Samsung phones have just been publicly shamed by Google for having malware embedded in the update ROMS. This is not a one off either, they've always been defective and their updates are always years out of date. Never buy Samsung.

That's interesting, and I've heard this said before. I don't doubt that it's true, but I'm on my third Samsung phone and my wife in on her fourth and we've never had any trouble with any of them. Well, my wife has - but that's more operator miss-operation if you get my drift!