Samsung Is Cracking Down on TV Apps that Quietly Shared Users’ Internet Connections
Samsung said it is banning residential proxy apps and removing existing ones after research found they can route traffic through millions of smart TVs.
- On Monday, Samsung announced it will remove smart TV apps that share user internet connections, following security research from Norwegian cybersecurity firm Mnemonic identifying code turning televisions into "a residential proxy exit node."
- Research revealed that popular apps, including a Samsung "Editor's Choice" featured Pac-Man game, contained software allowing strangers to route web traffic through home networks, a practice involving "resproxies" increasingly linked to cybercrime.
- Security consultant Harrison Sand warned that a "simple code change on a web server" could activate hundreds of millions of devices into a botnet, often used for large-scale data scraping and training AI models.
- Samsung told TechCrunch it is implementing "strict platform-wide developer policies explicitly banning residential proxy SDKs" and has already restricted new app registrations incorporating such proxy functionalities on its Smart TV platform.
- This action follows LG's ban last month, when reporting found roughly 42% of apps on its store utilized similar software, highlighting how resproxies also affect other consumer electronics like Android streaming boxes.
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Smart TVs now command living rooms across the country. They stream shows, run games, and connect to the internet with the ease of a smartphone. But that convenience carries hidden costs. These devices run full operating systems. Many ship with cameras, microphones, and default settings that prioritize data collection over protection. Hackers notice. So do advertisers. The result is a steady stream of risks that range from spyware to network-comp…
Samsung follows LG in killing Smart TV apps that rent out your internet
TL;DR Security researchers discovered that popular Samsung TV apps (like Pac-Man) secretly contained residential proxy SDKs from data brokers like Bright Data. Samsung is officially banning proxy SDKs, halting new app submissions, and purging existing offending apps from its store. The enforcement follows LG’s similar crackdown after research revealed over 42% of webOS apps secretly shared home bandwidth. Samsung is cracking down on Smart TV ap…
Samsung is cracking down on TV apps that quietly rent out your bandwidth
After being contacted by TechCrunch, Samsung said it has started blocking new apps that include this capability and is working to remove those already in its app store. "We have already restricted new app registrations that incorporate such proxy functionalities on our Smart TV platform," a Samsung spokesperson told the...Read Entire Article
Malicious code that allows hackers to bypass networks was discovered in smart TV apps from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, leading to their removal. Experts are emphasizing the importance of security updates, warning that IoT appliances could become "zombies" and serve as a pathway for personal information leaks and secondary damage.
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