Trying something new per a suggestion from zeugma--I'm breaking up my ping list into two parts to shorten it--hopefully it will eliminate the double pings we've been seeing.
Posted on 12/16/2012 6:25:14 AM PST by shove_it
Viewers, beware: while you’re watching TV, your TV might be watching you back. A security firm discovered that Samsung’s Smart TV can give hackers access to the device’s built-in camera and microphones, allowing them to watch everything you do.
The Malta-based firm ReVuln posted a video showing its team of researchers hacking into one of the Samsung TVs and accessing its settings, channel lists, widgets, USB drives, and remote control configurations. The security flaw allows hackers to access any and all personal data stored on the TV.
“We can install malicious software to gain complete root access to the TV,” the video writes. With this access, hackers can use the Smart TVs built-in camera and microphones to see and hear everything in front of it. Instead of just watching TV, viewers could themselves be watched without knowing it.
But this flaw isn’t present in just one specific model. The vulnerability affects all 11 Samsung televisions of the latest generation. The Smart TVs have many of the same features as a computer, but lack the same kind of protection. The devices do not have security features such as firewalls and antivirus software...
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
ROFL! Hot drink snorted through nose is veddy painful!
Trying something new per a suggestion from zeugma--I'm breaking up my ping list into two parts to shorten it--hopefully it will eliminate the double pings we've been seeing.
Trying something new per a suggestion from zeugma--I'm breaking up my ping list into two parts to shorten it--hopefully it will eliminate the double pings we've been seeing.
Just because I am paranoid does not mean they aren’t actually out there watching me.
I turned mine off 12 years ago and never turned it back on. Don't miss it a bit.
Yeah, but I’d assume anyone who has a TV connected to the Intertubes, it’s going to be behind some sort of router, because that will be the source of internet service and probably Wifi for the rest of the home, and the router provides some level of firewall.
You're actually probably an exception to this. The camera lens on the front of your TV seems to be gummed up with some sort of foreign substance, so they can't watch you anyway.
Where on a Samsung is the camera lense located?
CA....
“I’d be interested in knowing what OS is running on these things. I’d bet it was an embedded linux with really bad defaults set up. (Or running as root)”
Most ppl set up a tv in their bedroom. Sooo... hackers could throw in some virtualization software in the mix to set up a back ComChannel. Then they could sit at their computers and chat back and forth while watching the poor victims. Shoot, they could probably sell access and make money from it as a business. lol!
You are overestimating the effectiveness of a router. FWIW.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.