
Researchers Hack Internet TVs, Discover Multiple Security Vulnerabilities - abrudtkuhl
http://www.securityweek.com/researchers-hack-internet-enabled-tvs-discover-multiple-security-vulnerabilities?fb
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zdw
To drive an HD screen, you needs something that is somewhat powerful - for
example, most of the new NetFlix interfaces are based on Webkit, which isn't
trivial to run.

Seeing as my TV spontaneously rebooted in the middle of watching a DVD last
night, and has had two OTA software updates since I bought it less than a
month ago, I'm not too surprised at security problems, as basically it's a
puny computer with a huge display integrated into it...

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raheemm
21% of TVs sold in 2010 had internet connectivity.
[http://www.techspot.com/news/41843-21-of-tvs-sold-
in-2010-ha...](http://www.techspot.com/news/41843-21-of-tvs-sold-in-2010-had-
internet-connectivity.html)

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watty
Once your network DNS is hijacked aren't you screwed anyways? What's to stop
someone from presenting fake bank or email website logins?

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zdw
The concern isn't as much over user data with embedded device breaches - it's
more likely that they're hijacked to the point that the TV could breach
security on a network (plenty of TV's in corporate situations) or participate
in a botnet/etc.

~~~
watty
Good point, the article's main focus was over user data but that would be bad
as well. I guess I felt like if your corporate DNS is hijacked, TVs are the
least of your worries. Hackers could use exploits such as Evilgrade to take
over computers.

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anonymous246
Yet another reason I feel that Google TV, Apple TV, Microsoft TV, Roku (any
others?) (not necessarily in that order) have a bright future.

For TV manufacturers, the software side of things is an "annoyance project"
from a cultural as well as sales perspective. They _have_ throw in some
software to check off boxes in reviewers' checklists, but good software is
expensive to design and develop, and something whose real value is apparent in
daily use. Not in the "wall of TVs" at a big box store where all TVs running
the same demo loop.

My TV's interface for viewing photos from a USB disk is appallingly bad. And I
don't see the TV guys fixing this problem anytime soon: it's just not in their
DNA.

I predict that branded third-party OS's will be common on TV's in three years
(if not sooner).

Another example along similar lines is the firmware on digital cameras. One
feature I would like is for my camera to take _two_ pictures. In the second
version, the image areas it used to infer aperture+exposure settings, and the
focus points should be marked with rectangles etc. I've often noticed that an
image that looks sharp on the LCD is not properly focused when seen on a big
monitor. Such a setting would help me improve my skill.

