Streaming TV Services & Devices

Smart TV's, FBI Warning... 

Now even the FBI is warning about your smart TV's security

If you just bought a smart TV on Black Friday or plan to buy one for Cyber Monday tomorrow, the FBI wants you to know a few things.



Smart TVs are like regular television sets but with an internet connection. With the advent and growth of Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services, most saw internet-connected televisions as a cord-cutter's dream. But like anything that connects to the internet, it opens up smart TVs to security vulnerabilities and hackers. Not only that, many smart TVs come with a camera and a microphone. But as is the case with most other internet-connected devices, manufacturers often don't put security as a priority.



That's the key takeaway from the FBI's Portland field office, which just ahead of some of the biggest shopping days of the year posted a warning on its website about the risks that smart TVs pose.



"Beyond the risk that your TV manufacturer and app developers may be listening and watching you, that television can also be a gateway for hackers to come into your home. A bad cyber actor may not be able to access your locked-down computer directly, but it is possible that your unsecured TV can give him or her an easy way in the backdoor through your router," wrote the FBI.



The FBI warned that hackers can take control of your unsecured smart TV and in worst cases, take control of the camera and microphone to watch and listen in.



Active attacks and exploits against smart TVs are rare, but not unheard of. Because every smart TV comes with their manufacturer's own software and are at the mercy of their often unreliable and irregular security patching schedule, some devices are more vulnerable than others. Earlier this year, hackers showed it was possible to hijack Google's Chromecast streaming stick and broadcast random videos to thousands of victims.



In fact, some of the biggest exploits targeting smart TVs in recent years were developed by the Central Intelligence Agency, but were stolen and published online by WikiLeaks two years ago.



But as much as the FBI's warning is responding to genuine fears, arguably one of the bigger issues that should cause as much if not greater concerns are how much tracking data is collected on smart TV owners.



The Washington Post earlier this year found that some of the most popular smart TV makers — including Samsung and LG — collect tons of information about what users are watching in order to help advertisers better target ads against their viewers and to suggest what to watch next, for example. The TV tracking problem became so problematic a few years ago that smart TV maker Vizio had to pay $2.2 million in fines after it was caught secretly collecting customer viewing data. Earlier this year, a separate class action suit related to the tracking again Vizio was allowed to go ahead.



The FBI recommends placing black tape over an unused smart TV camera, keeping your smart TV up-to-date with the latest patches and fixes, and to read the privacy policy to better understand what your smart TV is capable of.



As convenient as it might be, the most secure smart TV might be one that isn't connected to the internet at all.

Finally cut my cord a few weeks ago. Now just internet from Comcast, and YouTubeTV/Netflix. So far so good, although I miss the Comcast remote, as it gave me all kinds of options. The Samsung remote is very basic, and I'm learning how to use it again. Same quality picture.

After 3+ months in the hospital ,aand now isolated in my house been wearing out some streaming services....
In hospital I had a tablet, an Amazon Fire HD (Kindle in disguise), and loaded a few apps. This tablet supports full HD.
One thing that would have been helpful would be the ability to cast the display onto the chitty TV in the hospital room, but the way they do this is with a fire stick, and the hospital goons won;t give you the remote control to switch to a different input on the TV.

ATT-Uverse claims you can use their app and watch the Uverse stuff remote or while away from home, so I started there. After many hours of trying I was able to get the app to work on the tablet but all you can actuall watch is their OnDemand library, although you can see a list of what you have recorded on your DVR and manupulate it you can't watch any of that content.

Amazon Prime, my daughter gave me a 1yr subscription with the tablet... Prime has some interesting shows mostly licensed only to Prime and some Prime original series and shows.

NetFlix, had/have a month my month subscrition the basic 2 HD device $12.99, but that is now paid for by my T-Mobile phone package. Netflix has quite a good selection of all kinds of stuff and will keep up busy for many hours of streaming content mostly all in hi-def.

Hulu, basic package like $6 bucks a month. Hulu has quite a bit of content from movies to local tv shows that have peviously aired. I was able to binge watch several local network series tv shows, with no commercials, and catch up on shows I had missed and shows I had never watched before.

I also was able to download some apps, Shotime, Discovery, History, and using mu ATT-Uverse login watch shows from these channels, assuming that you pay for these channels in you content provider package.

Binged Ozark on Netflix last week, right up there with Breaking Bad.

Don't miss Tiger King... slow and painful to watch.

Ozark is on my list.

Ditto on that

And on Epix … War Of The Worlds. It's like a Euro Low Tech take on H. G.'s classic. Pretty good.