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LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#211

Post by petesergeant »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #194
petesergeant wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One can't expect that every driver package submission from every vendor is thoroughly vetted every time, this is a matter of trust and respect. Apple seem to do a pretty decent job of just that

The situation is very different on Macs. Apple control almost the entire hardware stack of the machines that macOS runs on. They make it an absolute pain in the neck to run any application not blessed by attestation. This attestation server is also frequently offline. They've also made it very difficult to write things like filesystem drivers, having completely pulled that functionality from more recent versions of m…

> At least on Windows, the most you get is a scare screen

Well that and side-loaded LG adware

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#212

Post by Sophira »

gblargg wrote: post #140
drnick1 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another win for the Linux security model (software installed and updated manually from vetted repos only).

Wait, you're saying a monitor can just advertise a URL over the video connection for its driver and then Windows will blindly install it, without user confirmation? I thought that LG had submitted these "drivers" (adware) to Microsoft and they approved it.

As far as I'm aware, the monitor does not transmit a URL. Windows is looking at the hardware's vendor and device IDs and using those to look up and download the "drivers" that LG has stated are for that device.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#213

Post by cynicalsecurity »

mastazi wrote: post #198

I am afraid that my dumb TV, which I've been holding onto for many years, might be on its last leg. I remember seeing privacy guides for smart TVs over the years, does anyone know a place with up to date info? Most 55inch monitors are now "smart" sadly, so are most "digital signage" products. So there is no longer a way to get a true dumb panel at least over 50 inch EDIT I am in Australia, there might be products tha…

You can easily turn dumb mode on any smart TV.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#214

Post by dataengineer56 »

0xblinq wrote: post #64

I'm very worried with all this bullshit around TVs. I've been running the same Samsung UE40C6530 since 2010. It's 16 f'ng years and the thing works flawlessly like the first day. No other electronic device in my life worked so well, during so long. But I'm about to move to a new home, and it feels like it's about time to get something more modern, at least a 4k TV. But I'm honestly totally lost at what to buy. I do n…

The new Chromecasts and Apple TVs are really pretty good. I connect my LG TV to the wifi every few months to run updates, then disconnect it after. I control my TV through the Chromecast remote, so I never see any LG dashboards/apps.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#215

Post by fauigerzigerk »

felooboolooomba wrote: post #163
TeMPOraL wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The monitors aren't installing anything. That headline was a lie. It's Windows Update that's installing LG crapware upon seeing relevant hardware IDs. That's why the problem affected older monitors too - it's the update side that suddenly started to ship malware.

> That headline was a lie. Kinda agree but let's call it "misinformed" or something, instead of a lie.

I would say it's neither a lie nor misinformed. It 's a punchier headline that can be justified by what the user experiences. The user connects a monitor which causes ads to appear. The rest of this Rube Goldberg contraption is a mere detail.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#216

Post by coldtea »

nikanj wrote: post #162
12_throw_away wrote: post #67

42% of the apps on LG's platform have these quasi-malware SDKs in them? Seems kinda bad, whether it's due to negligence or just pure incompetence? You'd think there might be legal consequences for a corporation that lets their app store turn into a malware delivery system?

They've seen the ruckus that follows from controlling / curating the app store experience. For example, see the comments at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028

That's for a general purpose computing platform that a smartphone is.

This is for a fucking TV.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#217

Post by coldtea »

manarth wrote: post #197
s1ncere wrote: post #30

Stop hooking up your LG tv to any network

Want to stream Netflix? Disney+? Hulu? You need to hook something up to a network, and another device would have similar risks. Setting up a sandboxed VPC or auditing traffic is beyond the means of the average TV owner.

>You need to hook something up to a network, and another device would have similar risks.

Another device might not give the free reign for all shitty malware like they do. Apple TV for one wouldn't.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#219

Post by chronogram »

maccard wrote: post #208
delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There’s still a world of difference between a MacBook touchpad and a windows one Oddly I've found otherwise (Dell Precision notebook from 2021, and Surface Laptop). It might be macOS's animations and smoothing interfering here, but I've found that my Windows touchpads are much more responsive, especially when swiping between desktops. > The peripherals still need the addons though Ugh, this is annoying. Hardware ve…

On the trackpads - I only ever use my MacBook as a single screen device, so the experience may be different. A long time ago I used it with an external monitor and the experience was very poor compared to windows. > Ugh, this is annoying. Hardware vendors need to be banned from writing lousy, inefficient, unsafe software. Yeah, I commented on the McAfee LG thread but the stuff that comes bundled with hardware is emba…

What part of Afterburner caused issues? I have it installed to undervolt an old GPU but not actively running.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#220

Post by Tor3 »

qq66 wrote: post #209
mastazi wrote: post #198

I am afraid that my dumb TV, which I've been holding onto for many years, might be on its last leg. I remember seeing privacy guides for smart TVs over the years, does anyone know a place with up to date info? Most 55inch monitors are now "smart" sadly, so are most "digital signage" products. So there is no longer a way to get a true dumb panel at least over 50 inch EDIT I am in Australia, there might be products tha…

If you don't ever give your network credentials to the Smart TV you've closed off 99% of the attack surface.

From previous discussions there are apparently TVs which will connect to any open network nearby, if it can find one.

I got myself a normal, non-smart Philips 49" TV some ten years ago, it's good, but I don't expect to be able to find something similar anymore.

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