Is your smart TV spying on you?
Posted Jan 9, 2017 10:52:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Your Boxing Day shopping may have snagged you a new Smart TV but you may not be aware of some of the new risks that come along with it this year.
Cyber security expert Dominic Vogel says ransomware is now a real threat. “Surpassingly it is and it’s probably going to be more commonplace in the next couple years. There was a proof of concept that came out last year that was more a theoretical thing that this is coming and it basically took about a year before theory became real-life practice.”
That reality was on display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which wrapped up in Las Vegas Sunday.
“It’s something just to be cognizant of. A lot of people, when they’re interacting with their smart TV don’t realize that it’s no different than their computer, it’s no different than their tablet, it’s no different than their smart phone,” says Vogel. “It’s an internet-connected device and as such it is susceptible to the same viruses [and] ransomware that those other devices are susceptible to as well.”
The result could be anything from an annoyance to something much more serious. “If ransomware gets onto your smart TV, what it will do is it will prevent you from using your TV. The other scary thing is that it could spread to the rest of your networks,” explains Vogel. “It could hop onto your laptop or your smartphone and it could prevent you from using any of your devices.”
Your best bet in the fight against it is to be aware of which sites you visit and what you download.
