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

Re:not a rejection, a redirection

[TWX]

"Smart TV" is bogus. never hook an ethernet cable to one. use a Roku or Chromecast or something else cheap, easily replaceable, and disposeable if you feel the need for direct streaming.

Unfortunately the TV manufacturers are making it harder and harder to avoid some kind of network connection. Our Vizio comes with a really terrible and over-simple remote that doesn't do anything, to configure the TV you must at least use your smartphone and a crappy application.

At least in our TV's case, they are only one step from the conventional TV and remote so I can order an older TV's remote and get most of the functionality, but it's still annoying as hell.

But you're right, I doubt I will ever hook the TV to the Ethernet or the Wifi. Bad enough that I couldn't avoid doing that with the Blu-ray player, otherwise I'd just let the computer that I've put into the entertainment center supply whatever I need.

Re:not a rejection, a redirection

[Locke2005]

My new Samsung fails the "intuitive physical interface" test. Their designers pulled a Dilbert and decided to ship with a sleek new remote control with only 5 black-on-black buttons, meaning doing something as simple as switching input sources now requires pushing the Home button to bring up a menu, Left or Right buttons to select the source menu, pushing the Up button, then pushing the Left or Right button to select the new source, then pushing the Enter button... oh yeah, that's much easier than just pushing the Input button to cycle through sources like I do on the LG remote!