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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.
Each part of a business has to make money in order, someone, somewhere in Samsung cares about the extra money
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?
Really, Samsung is heavy industry. Their consumer crap is like a hobby. But they have to fill the ships they build with something so that they're not empty when going out to bring in more raw materials. I mean, you shouldn't see the waitress walking around empty handed.
...DUMB
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.
This would require smart customers. Have you ever met one?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Yet strangely the news were more informative and the programming was generally better...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
mcafee is one of the worst violators of consumer privacy. their antivirus crap sends a whole metric ton of information back to the mother ship which is then sold to analytics firms for tracking consumer behavior.
This move has next to nothing about actually using the software as an antivirus; it's entirely about harvesting that sweet sweet data.
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?
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.
Beats using stacks of AOL CDs
Economies of scale means that manufacturers don't want to make dumb TVs as a distinct product line. They were probably already being kickbacks from Netflix et. al. long before McAfee, so smart TVs are probably cheaper all around.
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!
The difference is that this was two incidences over a decade. Today you get that a magnitude larger before the evening news are even being invented.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
... 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
mod parent as spam
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
The TV division, or whatever that bit is called, no doubt have their own budget and revenue goals. If things are not going well they'll come under scrutiny from the mothership.
There is ofcourse cooperation across divisions to satisfy company goals, like correlating consumer TV habits with everything they know about people from Phones and Bigsby.
Yes, some CEO said recently that profit on hardware sales was around 7% he admitted it was their own fault but in any case it's now necessary to boost profit in other ways. Selling information about consumer TV habits is no 1 (gathered through internet connected Smart TVs), getting a few kickbacks is probably welcomed as well.
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.
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).
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.
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!