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Samsung is Loading McAfee Antivirus Software On Smart TVs (techspot.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

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.

32 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. hold on.. by e432776 · · Score: 4, Funny

    .. is that TV running MS Windows??

    1. Re: hold on.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You get the award for not rtfa AND not rtfs.

  2. Raise the price, please by tomhath · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:Raise the price, please by oic0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Very few. Most people buy a TV because it's a good deal for the size in a big box store. They don't understand any specs except buzzwords like HD, smart, and 4k.

    2. Re:Raise the price, please by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If vendors would offer that as an option I expect they would be surprised how many people would take it.

      I'd be surprised if many did take it. Almost everything I know about marketing says that the segment of the market that cares that much about this is minuscule. The ones that don't will continue to use price as a prime criterion for their purchase decision.

      --
      That is all.
    3. Re: Raise the price, please by sinij · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Treat your TV as a display and connect it to another device that you control and can secure. I have old desktop with a wireless keyboard and my TV is connected via HDMI cable to that.

    4. Re: Raise the price, please by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I got news for you, in a very short time they will come with a 5G radio that you dont control. It will connect to the home base, period.

      --
      Good-bye
    5. Re: Raise the price, please by Pascoea · · Score: 2

      I share your prediction. Good thing I'm handy with a soldering iron.

      Honestly, I'd be shocked if there weren't already agreements between the TV manufacturers and companies like Comcast to let their TVs have unfettered access to the Xfinity WiFi that their modems are pumping out. My Vizio monitor is required to be connected to WiFi in order to control anything about the TV beyond basic on/off functions. I just relegated the damn thing to it's own "guest" network that doesn't get access to the internet. Fuck them and their spying bullshit.

    6. Re:Raise the price, please by EvilSS · · Score: 2

      1080p is on the way out with manufacturers. They have all moved most of their panel lines over to 4K production. They still make 1080p sets, but they are usually bottom of the barrel and way outnumbered by 4K at this point. As for dumb TVs, unless you want to go with a commercial panel (and the cost that goes with it) your best bet is eBay/Craig's list for older used devices. It's getting impossible to find.

      The really unfortunate part, based on how some "apps" are coming out on smart TV stores before they are hitting Apple/Google/Roku/Fire stores, I think the unwashed masses are pulling another "It's good enough" and actually using the damn smart TV apps.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    7. Re: Raise the price, please by vux984 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "And, what? You think they won't have a HDMI port? "

      You are Missing the point.

      If it has a 5g radio built in, with its cellular network access cost worked out as some combination of an advertising deal with facebook, a bulk volume bandwidth pre-purchase from your local ISP. Then YOU won't need to hook it up to the internet, because when you turn it on out of the box, it already has an internet connection, ready to send all the telemetry while downloading software updates and advertising from the word go.

      It doesn't need to be on your network, so it doesn't need to go through your firewall.

      What possible security or control do you hope to gain from it having an hdmi port?

      Maybe, if you are lucky, there will an option in settings to turn it off, and maybe if your are lucky they will honor that setting. Otherwise, unless you live in a concrete subbasement basement, a faraday cage, or the artic circle... your TV will be online.

    8. Re: Raise the price, please by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why would they waste money on a 5G modem and on-going cellular data costs when the user is very likely to connect it to their wifi for free anyway?

      Also it would be pointless in Europe because the user could just decline he mandatory opt-in permission request, and agreement cannot legally be forced by making it mandatory to use the functions of the TV.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Raise the price, please by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately, since McAfee is likely paying per TV it's installed in, the price might actually drop the more garbage they load in. Then, customers might tend to buy the cheaper (more bloat-ridden) TVs and this could become the norm.

      I really hope not, though. I don't even connect my TV to my WiFi. I use a Roku stick to stream. I'd buy a "dumb TV" if they offered them anymore. I definitely don't need an anti-virus program on my TV.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    10. Re: Raise the price, please by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      Just do what I do. Don't connect your TV to WiFi. Instead, plug in a Roku stick (or Fire Stick or Chromecast) and connect THAT to your WiFi. The TV won't be exposed to the Internet at all.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  3. Re: It's a conglomerate, writer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Each part of a business has to make money in order, someone, somewhere in Samsung cares about the extra money

  4. The proles have arrived by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!

    1. Re:The proles have arrived by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Let them have their locked-in TVs and smartphones. It's not like we have to use them, and if it makes them happy, at least they don't stumble into our turfs.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. AV on TV by slash.jit · · Score: 2

    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?

    1. Re:AV on TV by supremebob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, I'm curious... how this is going to work? Is it going to work like the McAfee bloatware on retail PC, where I'm going to get pestered to upgrade to the "Pro" version every time I turn on the TV?

      Also, do I have the option to uninstall the software? If not, I'm pretty sure that they're going to lose some customers over this.

      (Frankly, I'm amazed that Microsoft hasn't allowed AntiVirus programs for the XBox yet. It's much more like a PC than a SmartPC is.

    2. Re:AV on TV by taustin · · Score: 2

      If it affects the TV operation the way it does a PC, consumers will care. They'll have to run the TV on fast forward all the time to compensate for the slow-down, and fast forward usually disables the sound.

  6. I like my TVs the way I like my toasters... by stevegee58 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...DUMB

  7. You kiddin' me? by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now my TV runs so slow it's showing first-run episodes of Star Trek: TNG.

  8. Welp by pak9rabid · · Score: 2

    Welp, guess my next TV will be from LG.

    1. Re:Welp by slash.jit · · Score: 2

      Right.. Next will be LG coming with TVs with Nortan AV installed

  9. Malware as standard by Going_Digital · · Score: 4, Informative

    Samsung TVs already come with pre-installed malware that plays ads to you!

  10. Re:Not that simple by rogoshen1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  11. Putting the cart before the horse? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    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.
  12. Yet another reason not to buy a Samsung TV by Casandro · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I mean why should I pay for a TV from a company that sees me as its product?

  13. My Synology NAS has antivirus, why not a SmartTV? by williamyf · · Score: 2

    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!
  14. Oblig xkcd by Megahard · · Score: 4, Funny

    https://xkcd.com/463/

    --
    I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
  15. Re:My Synology NAS has antivirus, why not a SmartT by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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!
  16. Er ... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 2

    ... 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?

  17. useless by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    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.