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Samsung is Loading McAfee Antivirus Software On Smart TVs (techspot.com)
Samsung is adding bloatware to its 2019 TVs because McAfee is paying them to do so. From a report: There is arguably no reason at all for Samsung to offer a third-party antivirus software for an operating system that is developed in house. Partnering with software vendors is fairly common practice for large hardware manufacturers. Laptop makers frequently preinstall bloatware in return for some sizable payouts and smartphone OEMs are no different. Samsung is now installing McAfee antivirus software on its 2019 TV lineup.
Samsung is claiming something to the effect of wanting to protect users from malware. On the surface that makes sense, but Samsung is running its very own Tizen OS on all of its TVs. Instead of adding more junk to a TV, why not just improve the OS? The answer though is very self explanatory. Samsung would not receive a payout from McAfee if it did not install the unneeded software.
Samsung is claiming something to the effect of wanting to protect users from malware. On the surface that makes sense, but Samsung is running its very own Tizen OS on all of its TVs. Instead of adding more junk to a TV, why not just improve the OS? The answer though is very self explanatory. Samsung would not receive a payout from McAfee if it did not install the unneeded software.
.. is that TV running MS Windows??
I would much rather pay a higher price and be without all that crap. If vendors would offer that as an option I expect they would be surprised how many people would take it.
They are literally cancer. They spread and ruin everything in their way. Dystopian nightmare of total surveillance.
TV's have storage and apps can run stuff like JavaScript.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. has suggested that border security can be accomplished "doing it with what I like to call using a 'smart wall.' "
I don't think Samsung is in for the money. It's a global conglomerate that produces everything from microcontrollers to military tanks. I don't think the few hundred thousand dollars from McAfee would make any difference whatsoever to them. Claiming Samsung is in this for the money is ... surprisingly crazy IMHO
Problem solved.
I don't want any TV that can get viruses, thank you. I will only buy TVs that start up fast. I'll add the smarts myself.
There was a golden age of tech (and of computing in particular), when only the intelligent, self-sufficient, industrious, unabashedly eccentric types were interested in it.
Then, gaming made tech fun.
Then, Apple made tech cool.
Then, Android made tech ubiquitous.
Now, tech is firmly in the sticky, unwashed hands of the proletariat, and it's time to move on to more secluded grounds. See you there!
I hate AVs in computers itself so never install it. But I guess we won't be able to uninstall it from TV.
Lets look at potential issues with this
Performance issues with TV
More internet usage for AV updates [That goes from our bill ]
Random removal of TV apps which are considered as virus by AV
Annoying messages for AV updates
Annoying messages for upgrading to premium version
What else?
Back in my day sonny TVs didn't have operating systems. Or remote controls. Or color. Or more than 3 channels with anything but static on them.
McAfee is there for YOUR PROTECTION, like a GUARD DOG ALWAYS ON DUTY! Do you want your mother raped? Your father raped? Your children raped? I didn't think so. McAfee is the PROTECTOR OF YOUR FAMILY. I feel safer already just thinking about my next SAMSUNG TV with McAfee PROTECTING ME and MINE!
...DUMB
Just a reminder that John McAfee said he would eat his dick on national television if Bitcoin prices do not go to $500k:
https://mobile.twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/887024683379544065?lang=en
Now my TV runs so slow it's showing first-run episodes of Star Trek: TNG.
Welp, guess my next TV will be from LG.
Samsung TVs already come with pre-installed malware that plays ads to you!
If the so called anti virus is just a digital signature verification system to make certain that the firmware and so called apps are legit then it makes sense. Could be that MacAfee is just taking over what is becoming an essential function of their software control quality control. I guess that all the experience of years spent building a software digital signature checking system that run at high priority make it so that it is cheaper for Samsung to outsource the essential process rather than do the essential coding in house.
Remember Windows without so called antivirus? You install XP and put it on the net without a French safe first and bingo you got screwed before you even got to do a Windows update. It is just a matter of time before you get your new TV home turn on the wifi or plug in the cable and POOF you get hosed. I am sure there are people out there with a bone to pick going after every OS with a network stack and it is just a matter of time before Samsung and all the other device manufactures start getting their firmware hacked the way Windows OS did. Don't forget we are seeing online hacking of things like baby monitors so I am sure that Samsung TVs are an even sweeter target for the digital dick heads that run the bot nets. Just imagine this: a future bit coin con scam that hoses your TV and asks for a ransom to get Fox News and at the same time steals your Netflix account info and credit card info. ;-0 At least Samsung did not make a pact with the Russian Putin controlled AVG group. Or worse still, the Norton/NSA group!
I'm afraid to buy a new TV. It's bad enough the cable company and Netflix know exactly what I am watching. Now the TV company does, too?
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
The normies have brought the money, which is good.
This, however, signals that it's time to look for new grounds to which to lead the normies and their money.
This is an example of killing two birds with one stone.
The first stone is that Samsung does not have to make their OS secure, nor do they have to ensure that the apps in their app store are secure. Instead they have offloaded this to a third-party. The cost savings are significant. Like Microsoft they are now free to do stupid shit that is obviously inimical to security and claim that any problems thus created are completely and entirely within the bailiwick of the third-party (McAfee).
The second stone is that McAfee pays Samsung for the privilege of being the first stone.
I can see the need for AV on general-purpose devices like computers where user input can be VERY difficult to predict and it's hard to keep users from screwing everything up by starting a program they shouldn't. But how in the world is this possible in a walled-off environment like a TV where you can literally ONLY run whatever the maker lets you?
Samsung, if you have a security problem in your walled garden, YOU screwed up. Fix the problem instead of slapping a band-aid on it!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I mean why should I pay for a TV from a company that sees me as its product?
Unless they figure out how to root it and still have it work with Netflix and YouTube app.
I've always liked Samsung TVs but wouldn't buy another one.
I brought a 2018 model recently, which works really well, but it advertises stuff (usually Samsung phones) on the home bar. You have to disagree to some of the terms to get rid of it, and I still see ads in some parts of the os.
On top of that it insisted on putting its crappy TvPlus feature first in the list of sources even if I moved it or deleted the app. It seems to have given up now (think I might just be lucky at the moment) but that truly p**d me off for a few weeks having to scroll past their paid-for crap every time I wanted to switch input.
"Instead of adding more junk to a TV, why not just improve the OS?".
Yup. They Offer two tiers.
A free antivirus provided by Synology based on ClamAV, and a paid one by McAfee. Both are optional to install. I installed the ClamAV one.
After all, the Synology is, at its core, a Linux Box connected to the net, and therefore suceptible to viruses and worms. Granted, less susceptible than, let's say, a windows box, but susceptible nonetheless. So, an antivirus is a nice addition to the defense in depth*, multiple layers of defense, whathaveyou.
The Samsung TV is, at its core, a box running a Linux/BSD core (Bada, which is what samsung uses, can use either) connected to the net, so it should use an Antivirus. Defense in depth, multiple layers of defense and all that...
Having it Pre-Installed is a way to simplify things for less sophisticated users, and (sadly) monetize them post sale as well.
Let alone the publicity for McAfee: my SmartTV uses McAfee antivirus, when time comes to chose an antivirus for my new PC/company/small business, may use McAfee as well (or so goes the thinking of the marketeers).
JM2C
* Some of the defenses for my Syno are, in no particular order:
1.) Use 9.9.9.9 as the DNS of the Syno.
2.) Activate the FW on the Ingress Router of NW.
3.) Activate SW Firewall on the Syno itself.
4.) Keep Syno Updated on Patches. Also patch syno packages.
5.) Run AV on Syno.
6.) Periodicaly run Security Advisor on Syno.
7.) Disable SMB 1 on Syno.
8.) Secure the WiFi network as much as possible.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
https://xkcd.com/463/
I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
AV on your NAS is not designed to protect the NAS itself, its designed to detect windows malware being put onto the storage device and thus spread to other windows clients that are accessing it.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
https://coincircle.com/l/jvB1i...
... hopefully I don't actually have to break tradition and read the fine article.
Isn't this a closed system? WTH would you need antivirus for? Poltergeists?
It does protect against Linux malware too. It's a Linux box running an older kernel with numerous services exposed, and periodically exploits are found.
For example, this flaw in Samba was pretty severe: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.c...
Still not convinced that McAfee is the best solution, but a Linux based NAS is not immune to malware either.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Wow.. you openly admit to being a total moron.
For example, Intel CPUs are designed not to function unless the shadow computing system (ME or whatever) is running correctly.
You don't know the meaning of "ubiquitous".
Maybe you're more of a prole than you think.
I can't think of any practical reason why one should run AV on many of these embedded platforms. In order to be effective the AV product needs to have a lot of permissions and that on its own is a real concern.
You do know that ClamAV is intended to find Windows malware on Linux hosted email servers or samba shares? And that's it?
Sorry, but I'm more with Samsung on this one.
I'll stipulate to:
- smart TV's? I'm not so sure this product category is necessary, and the implementations to date seem lame;
- bloatware is bad;
- McAfee used to be good, then they got bad, then they became good again, and they are now bad again... I think? Or are they good again?
Yet if smart TV's are going to persist, and they have become attack vectors, maybe this is a good thing overall, putting some security software on them. At least Samsung is paying attention to the matter which is loads better than ignoring security entirely. Which is what the smart TV vendors have been doing up until now.
And I don't really buy the "just make Tizen better" argument either. Security software routinely operates as an app/subsystem/add-on. No matter how good or bad the OS security is. Even Windows Defender, included with the OS, is still a separate product from the core OS.
But let's pretend that "make Tizen better" is viable. Can you imagine Samsung selling their smart TV's with the tagline, "now the TV OS is 37% more secure!" First off, how does the consumer even evaluate that? What does 37% better mean? Do you think it will motivate prospective buyers to select a Samsung TV over another TV? No, I don't mean you, /. reader, I mean will it win Samsung net new business in the mass market? Come on, we all know that it won't. Consumers famously shop for features and they don't consider security, in the main, to be a feature. Consumers want a bigger screen, better resolution, more colors, louder sound, curved screens and cup holders. Security doesn't sell TV sets.
Also, this is McAfee, which does have a legitimate security software business and has for a long time. I've made plenty of fun of McAfee in my time but even I admit that McAfee is a player in the IT security business.
Oh good lord, are they putting McAfee Security Scan Plus on their TVs? That thing doesn't do anything useful. It just natters at you and promotes their for-pay product. It's the first thing I uninstall.
Is it *possible* to uninstall it from your TV?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
With Linux basically running on all our TVs now, it seems very reasonable to consider AV on our embedded computers with large displays.
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Samsung has always had terrible software. The fact that they're taking bribes to make it worse shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Any marginal hardware advantage Samsung has had over their competitors over the years has been rendered moot by the garbageware Samsung bundles. Still it's nice to see my opinion of Samsung validated once in a while.
Cool! Now I know NOT TO BUY SAMSUNG. Those defective sub-par product offering nazis.
For those that don't know 9.9.9.9 is Quad 9, a DNS service that claims to filter out a lot of malware-type domains.
You do know that ClamAV is intended to find Windows malware on Linux hosted email servers or samba shares? And that's it?
Nope, It also checks the Syno partition looking for Linux viruses. As a matter of fact, the default check is to check only the system partion every day, as a full NAS check would take way too much time.
Amyjojo already explained it.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
Nope, It also checks the Syno partition looking for Linux viruses. As a matter of fact, the default check is to check only the system partion every day, as a full NAS check would take way too much time.
Amyjojo already explained it.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
I saw an article around a year ago - and I think it was on this site - claiming that the OS Samsung use for TVs was hopelessly insecure, and that whoever had written it simply did not have a clue about security. I believe that OS was Tizen, it was certainly something Samsung wrote themselves.
Assuming the article was accurate, Samsung should have had a serious go at fixing it. That costs money. What we see here is something that raises the bar a little and is actually revenue-positive. Win win from Samsung's perspective.
It is still an inadequate response on its own, hell - maybe they are trying to plug the holes as well.
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
So, if the purpose of the antivirus-software is gathering information to phone home, without the users knowledge (explicit and informed consent), those tvs would be illegal to be sold in the EU due to the GDPR (privacy laws).
I share your enthusiasm for screwing with the Man, I too routinely rip out stuff like that. Get good with microcontroller boards because the 2 ACs that responded have a good point: It'll just refuse to boot. You'll need to bypass the whole CPU section with an Arduino or the like. I'm currently doing the same with a very popular and expensive electric car that likes to phone home and get it's VIN blacklisted when crashed. I'll worry about the legal title stuff later. I just need a body with motor. That crash avoidance crap and lane keeping shit is unnecessary and frankly with the current beta-level iteration, dangerous. I've already done several similar mods with crap like OnStar and EyeSight and I can build my own ECU boards thanks to products like MegaSquirt, RusEFI, and Speeduino. I've even made engine simulators so the factory ECU thinks the engine is running so I've never failed an emissions test. VW engineers should hire me. Their engineers weren't sneaky enough!
Why does McAfee pay to have his antivirus installed? They would not do that without a plan to recover the cost and make money
Are we ahead of another privacy scandal, with data sucked from smartTV by a rogue antivirus?
nike putting mcafee on their shoes?!
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
McAfee in my opinion is itself a virus. I have seen so many PCs with a McAfee scan plugin installed in web browsers. When I ask the owner of the PC how it got there, they didn't realize it was there. Either it was installed by the factory, or it surreptitiously got installed from some website, possibly using unscrupulous acts to get the user to install it. After removing the McAfee scan plugin, I then try to convince the owner to use something other than McAfee for antivirus.
I wrote this snarky retort. I apologize for the following reason: The truth of the matter is that I, too, have long been looking and yet cannot seem to find a nice place either; every time I set up camp on some seemingly fertile ground, I wake up one morning to find that someone else has moved nearby, and has decided to dig a hole next to my tent in order to take a shit. So, I guess I'm a little irritable with regard to these sentiments.
Take care. And, good luck with the search!
Ensuring the kernel and those services are patched and hardened would do far more good than running an av scan...
Last i checked the state of linux av it couldnt pick up old stuff like lrk (linux rootkit) or the various variants like t0rnkit or modified versions of sshd etc... Also most linux rootkits tend to be manually installed rather than automatically spreading, so if someone semi competent compromises the host and installs a rootkit, they will also notice the scheduled scans and work out how to evade them.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!