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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.

9 of 160 comments (clear)

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

    .. is that TV running MS Windows??

  2. 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.

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

    ...DUMB

  4. 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.

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

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

  6. 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.

  7. 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
  8. 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.

  9. Oblig xkcd by Megahard · · Score: 4, Funny

    https://xkcd.com/463/

    --
    I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.