Samsung and Roku Smart TVs Vulnerable To Hacking, Consumer Reports Finds (consumerreports.org)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports has found that millions of smart TVs can be controlled by hackers exploiting easy-to-find security flaws. The problems affect Samsung televisions, along with models made by TCL and other brands that use the Roku TV smart-TV platform, as well as streaming devices such as the Roku Ultra. We found that a relatively unsophisticated hacker could change channels, play offensive content, or crank up the volume, which might be deeply unsettling to someone who didn't understand what was happening. This could be done over the web, from thousands of miles away. (These vulnerabilities would not allow a hacker to spy on the user or steal information.) The findings were part of a broad privacy and security evaluation, led by Consumer Reports, of smart TVs from top brands that also included LG, Sony, and Vizio. The testing also found that all these TVs raised privacy concerns by collecting very detailed information on their users. Consumers can limit the data collection. But they have to give up a lot of the TVs' functionality -- and know the right buttons to click and settings to look for.

Comments

Re:What we've been saying

[msauve]

"Best thing to do is return the product."

No, best thing is some people bind together and sue their asses. Software shrinkwrap licenses are at least based on the belief that copyright prevents a user from installing the software without agreement.

Not so much with a phone or IoT device - the user isn't copying anything, and has no need to agree to anything. There is no "consideration" to create a contract. There's nothing which legally prevents a purchaser from using a device without accepting terms. If you're sold a phone or IoT for some function, and they want you to agree to some terms before using it, after you've already bought it, that seems a perfect example of an attempt to create an unconscionable contract of adhesion. Same with, say, GM and OnStar tracking (they never explain how they know if a car has been sold, or what allows them to track the second purchaser).

When one of those things comes up on the screen, cover it with a sticky note saying "This is my device, and I'll use it as I please. By clicking continue, I retain all rights."