Smart TVs Getting Hacked

SMART TVs GETTING HACKED

See also the topic of TVs Watching You which is about how smart TVs spy on us.

Has your TV been hacked? In the worst case, there will be no obvious symptoms. If you are lucky, some symptoms might be: unusual activity on the TV, strange popup windows or slow performance.

Bad guys might also change the privacy and/or security settings on the TV. So, review all these settings, change what you can and make a note of all the settings. Yes, a pain in the neck. Perhaps print the list and keep it near or under the TV so you can easily find it in the future. Then, every now and then, review the privacy and/or security settings to insure they have not changed.

If anything seems wrong, you may be able to restore the TV or external streaming box to factory settings. This is usually called a "reset".

July 16, 2026: DO NOT BUY: LG's Spyware TVs, Monitors, and Wiretapping Concerns a YouTube video by GamersNexus. Quoting: "LG recently forced upon us an app install loaded with McAfee adware through a Windows update. We found that this has been happening to tons of users, made worse by LG's shady history with TVs that instruct buyers to inform house visitors of third-party microphones in their living room."

July 19, 2026: A discussion of the Windows aspect of the story, the automatic installation of adware by LG: LG's Spyware TVs and Monitors.There is a Group Policy to block this behavior called "Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata". Quoting user n0ads "... Windows is using the device’s metadata (how it IDs itself to Windows’ plug-and-play module) to trigger the download/installation of the app from the device’s 'manufacturer' not the device itself. There is no 'user notification' when this happens because it is using the same plug-and-play mechanism it uses to install drivers and create icons for devices..."
July 21, 2026: LG monitors are using Windows 11 feature to serve adware by Richard Speed for The Register. This has LG's first reaction which boils down to it's not so bad and it uses a Windows feature. Quoting LG: "LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user's explicit consent. The LG Monitor App Installer is distributed through Microsoft’s official Windows distribution process..."
July 23,2026: Microsoft responds to LG monitors installing McAfee ads on Windows by Scharon Harding for Ars Technica. Well researched article. The ads from the auto-installed LG Monitor App appeared at every boot-up. Not only does LG spy on you by listening to you speak, the Windows software can, in theory, also spy on you. Quoting: "Once the app is installed, 'LG technically possesses permission to use all system resources, as well as to collect geolocation, device data, online activity, contacts, user credentials, transactions, and more ...' ".
July 24, 2026: Microsoft intervenes after LG gets caught installing McAfee adware onto Windows 11 PCs via their monitors by Zac Bowden for Windows Central. This is LG's second reaction. Simply put: Microsoft persuaded LG not to do this any more.

RESIDENTIAL PROXIES

The articles below are about a malicious TVs, but not focused on spying on you. Residential proxies are a big thing in the summer of 2026 as bad guys use them to send their Internet communication through the Internet connection of consumers (at their home/resident). The idea being not just to hide their true location but also because some security system tread home users as more trusted.

July 21, 2026: LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps by Brian Krebs on this Krebs on Security website. Quoting: "The home appliance giant LG Electronics USA said this week it plans to suspend any apps built for its smart TVs that turn one's television into an always-on residential proxy node. The move comes less than a month after researchers found that more than 42 percent of games and other apps available for download on LG’s webOS store allow unknown third-parties to route their Internet traffic through a user’s TV. On July 2, we featured research by the security firm Spur that examined the prevalence of residential proxy software development kits (SDKs) in smart TV apps. Spur found more than 42 percent of apps available for download on LG smart TVs include SDKs that turn one’s television in a proxy node indefinitely, and that more than a quarter of the apps made for Samsung’s Tizen operating system had similar residential proxy components."

June 22, 2026: Nearly Half of LG Smart TV Apps Are Laced with Proxies by Trevor Sutter of Spur.us
In brief: More than a third of all LG and Samsung smart TVs contain code that turns the devices into proxy nodes. The proxy code was found hidden in clocks, screensavers, games, and other low utility apps. They scanned 6,038 apps on LG and Samsung TVs; 2,058 were selling your IP address.
Quoting: "Other TV platforms have already drawn a line. Amazon makes it explicit: its Device and System Abuse Policy prohibits apps that facilitate proxy services for third parties. Roku has reportedly shut the door too: Lowpass, syndicated at The Verge, reported that Roku bars developers from using Bright SDK and similar proxy services, and that Roku apps using the SDK disappeared after the company was contacted. LG and Samsung have not drawn an equivalent public line . . . Once a TV app can act as a proxy, the risk is not limited to someone borrowing your public IP address ... If the proxy provider decides to allow requests to private or local addresses, ... [your] TV becomes a foothold for reaching things that were never meant to be exposed to the internet: router admin panels, NAS devices, printers, cameras, developer machines, and other apps listening on local ports." The article does not discuss defense but the defense is either VLANs or not using TVs from LG and Samsung.

This page on my Router Security site, has a number of tests of your public IP address to see if your home network is part of a Residential Proxy system.

FYI

Smart TVs getting hacked: Watch a Drone Take Over a Nearby Smart TV by Andy Greenberg in Wired (Aug 2019). About hacking into smart TVs that use the internet-connected HbbTV standard. Weaknesses in HbbTV could be combined with vulnerabilities in Samsung smart TVs to gain full remote access to the television sets. This remote access persists even after the TV is turned off.

August 2021: Samsung can remotely disable their TVs worldwide using TV Block by Sergiu Gatlan of Bleeping Computer.