Android Ransomware Infects LG Smart TV, Company 'Refuses' To Help (bleepingcomputer.com)

Security firms have been warning us for more than a year about the possibility of Android malware jumping from phones and tablets to other Android-powered devices, such smart TVs. The latest incident involving ransomware on a smart TV involves software engineer Darren Cauthon, who revealed that the LG smart TV of one of his family members was infected with ransomware right on Christmas day. What's worse? He claims LG wouldn't help him with perform factory reset of the device. From a report: Based on a screenshot Cauthon posted online, the smart TV appears to be infected with a version of the Cyber. Police ransomware, also known as FLocker, Frantic Locker, or Dogspectus. The infected TV is one of the last generations of LG smart TVs that ran Google TV, a smart TV platform developed by Google together with Intel, Sony, and Logitech. Google TV launched in 2010, but Google discontinued the project in June 2014. In the meantime, LG has moved on from Google TV, and the company's TVs now run WebOS. Cauthon says he tried to reset the TV to factory settings, but the reset procedure available online didn't work. When the software engineer contacted LG, the company told him to visit one of their service centers, where one of its employees could reset his TV.

Comments

LS?

[Mikkeles]

So, will they be renaming the company to "Life Sucks"?

So-called Smart TV

[PopeRatzo]

I bought one of them Smart TVs, but it still had all the same dumb shows on it, so we put it up on a pair of sawhorses and are now using it as a dining table. Assholes at Best Buy didn't want to give me a refund.