Have you just bought a new smart TV last Black Friday? Or, are you planning to purchase one later today for the Cyber Monday deals? If your answer to either or both is a big YES, then you might want to consider a few things FBI wants you to know for a warning. Smart TVs are just the same as your regular TV that brings you your favorite TV series. The only difference is that the former has an internet connection.
With the arrival and growth of streaming services such as Hulu, Disney+, and Netflix, among others, many people have seen the internet connection TVs, as, according to Yahoo! News, "as a cord-cutter's dream." However, like anything connected to the Internet, the service opens up smart TVs to hackers and security vulnerabilities. More so, a lot of units of smart TV are designed with a microphone and camera. But despite this, manufacturers frequently don't install security apps as their priority.
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FBI's Warning
The lack of security by the manufacturer is the key takeaway from the Portland field office of the FBI, which, just ahead of some of the year's biggest shopping days, posted a caution on its website about the possible risks Smart TVs might pose. In an article TechCrunch posted, the FBI stated that beyond the danger that TV manufacturers, as well as the app developers, maybe watching the audience, is that TV can be used as a gateway too, for hackers to enter their home.
The same article indicated that "a bad cyber actor" may fail to access the audience's locked-down personal computer directly. However, a person's unsecured television may be easy to access by going to the Internet router. Additionally, the FBI cautioned that the hackers could fully control a smart TV user's unsecured TV, and in worst-case scenarios, control both the microphone and camera to listen in and watch.
Rare Active Attacks
Active exploits and attacks against smart TVs may be rare, but many are aware of it. Since every smart TV is designed with their respective makers' own software, not to mention being at the mercy of their frequently undependable and irregular schedule of security patching, some of these devices are more susceptible if compared to others. Earlier on, hackers have exhibited the possibility of hijacking the Chromecast streaming stick of Google, as well as the random broadcast video to its innumerable victims.
As a matter of fact, a number of the biggest exploits eyeing smart TVs in previous years were created by the Central Intelligence Agency. However, they were stolen. Also, as much as the warning of the FBI responds to so much apprehensions, one of the bigger concerns and issues that should result in as much, if not bigger, are the amount of tracking data gathered on most owners of smart TV.
Meanwhile, it was earlier reported that some of the most famous smart TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung gather tons of information on what the users watch to help the advertisers "better target ads" against the audience and to recommend what they should be watching next, for instance. The FBI suggests placing black tape over a smart TV camera that's not being used. This way, the television unit remains updated with the latest fixes and patches. The Federal recommends, too, to read the policy and privacy for a better understanding of what the smart TV can do.
