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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

#261

Post by windward »

quotemstr wrote: post #245
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all above board though, as you, the user, agreed to the terms & conditions for installing said app. This won't change unless governments create and enforce laws.

It is, though. Why should I not be able to agree, with sufficiently informed consent, to route traffic through a connection I operate via a computer I own using software I've chosen of my own free will to install? What's the difference between running a Tor exit node and a "residential proxy" except optics? Look: I'm 100% for banning secret proxies that hide from the user, but stopping people knowingly and voluntaril…

It all comes back to this. I pay for the network, I'm liable for it: I decide what comes through it.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#262

Post by windward »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #160
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.

> It's Windows Update that's installing LG crapware upon seeing relevant hardware IDs This is also a misrepresentation. Microsoft has provided LG with a certificate to sign its driver packages with, and allows LG to upload packages to Windows Update, which includes a feature to install sidecar applications. Now, the spirit of this feature is that any application is meant to provide genuine configuration functionality…

>Even so, I fully expect that after this debacle MS will disable this stuff.

Isn't the debacle over? MS know about this by now. What's stopping them from killing it today?

A late resolution is barely a resolution at all. None of this functionality needs new Windows features.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#263

Post by tosti »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #248
b3orn wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15 years ago people would've called it spyware.

20 years ago people would've called it a trojan horse. But then, by standards of two decades ago, every website that cannot legally avoid showing a GDPR popup would be classified as malware. As it should be today. Alas, standards have changed.

There were no cookie popups 20 years ago.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#264

Post by gambiting »

s1ncere wrote: post #30

Stop hooking up your LG tv to any network

The problem I have is....it just works. I'm tired of having to manage 50 different devices to let my son watch some Gabbys Dollhouse on the TV. Our LG CX is now 6 years old and it just works. I only need one remote for all the apps and sound, and I don't need to worry about another device. I've tried both Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick, and both were (subjectively) worse experiences than just using the apps built into the TV. So.....in the interest of making my life feel less like an IT admin of my own house....I think I'll just use the built in apps and keep my TV connected to the internet.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#265

Post by JumpCrisscross »

tjoff wrote: post #255
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd think there might be legal consequences I own an airgapped LG TV. Does anyone actually want to go class action/mass arb?

Airgapped is harder than you might think. If your TV finds an open network (neigbours?) it will use that one. And it is only a matter of time before they have cellular capabilities too.

> Airgapped is harder than you might think

Probably. The LG TV I have doesn't have cellular, but does have a removeable Wifi/Bluetooth module [1]. You have to disconnect a ribbon, unscrew the module and then pop it out.

[1] https://www.manualslib.com/manual/3140596/Lg-Oled83g3-Series...

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#266

Post by mDyJzDPmBdG »

boredatoms wrote: post #89
amlib wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think apple makes actual tvs

Whats your point exactly? Are you purposely being obtuse? Plenty of uninformed people let their tv on the network, they shouldn’t. A separate box should instead. Tell me I'm wrong?

You are wrong. Just idea of having to use to remotes is unacceptable level of friction to most people. We should not hail separate device as excuse to allow this shitty behaviour by TV manufacturers. I guess the lawmakers won't move a finger and we have wait for consumer network equipment manufacturers[1] to advertise build in pi-hole and ACR/TV ads blocking on firewall level.

[1] Let's just forget for a second they are famous for low quality software full of security bugs

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#267

Post by ozlikethewizard »

quotemstr wrote: post #245
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all above board though, as you, the user, agreed to the terms & conditions for installing said app. This won't change unless governments create and enforce laws.

It is, though. Why should I not be able to agree, with sufficiently informed consent, to route traffic through a connection I operate via a computer I own using software I've chosen of my own free will to install? What's the difference between running a Tor exit node and a "residential proxy" except optics? Look: I'm 100% for banning secret proxies that hide from the user, but stopping people knowingly and voluntaril…

The difference is the user. Your average smart TV user doesn't know what a residential proxy is, hell who's installing/playing the games but children? Consumer regulation to protect consumers from a knowledge disparity that leads to uninformed consent isn't a bad thing imo.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#268

Post by TacticalCoder »

s1ncere wrote: post #30

Stop hooking up your LG tv to any network

Press the button to turn off the power strip when you're not watching it.

The other solution for those who have a flat white wall (or are willing to install a projection screen) and which I used for years and years: use a dumb projector. There are plenty of perfectly fine dumb projectors and they're very cheap too (compared to the equivalent TV). This also made for the largest diagonal I ever had, in a huge living room, which was really great: basically turning the living room into a mini home theater. I painted the walls etc. accordingly, including a special paint for the white projection wall and black for the side and back walls. This was a better experience than any $$$ TV.

Sadly atm I can't use my projector for my wall ain't flat and I can't install a projection screen and I've got nowhere to put my projector: I could use a short-throw one but the place ain't mine and I'm not allowed to drill holes etc.

So atm it's... Pressing the button on the power strip that powers the LG TV. I know, I know: doesn't help much when the TV is on.

Next thing to do is separate all the junk devices (TV, smartphones [the ultimate spying device btw, much more than your TV], smartwatches, tables, etc.) from your proper stuff (e.g. your important PC running Linux/FreeBSD/etc.). I use different physical LANs (and a bridge/router) but VLANs would do too.

Many cheap home routers also by default offer at least a "guest" network: a perfect place the TV and your relatives' devices when they visit and want access. Set usage quota on the guest network too.

At some point all these devices shall use other networks than yours, so you'll be sorry out of luck anyway. But as long as they don't come with their own battery, pressing the button on the power-strip is some kind of giant low-cost "hack this" middle finger.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#269

Post by fauigerzigerk »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #250
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Those details are the only thing that matter. Without them, all you have is superstition.

I disagree. It matters that LG makes ads appear on their customers' screens as a deterministic consequence of connecting one of their monitors. It's not superstition.

Of course the details are important on some level. But that doesn't make everything else not matter and it doesn't turn an incomplete explanation into a lie.

Re: LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps

#270

Post by bombcar »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #265
tjoff wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airgapped is harder than you might think. If your TV finds an open network (neigbours?) it will use that one. And it is only a matter of time before they have cellular capabilities too.

> Airgapped is harder than you might think Probably. The LG TV I have doesn't have cellular, but does have a removeable Wifi/Bluetooth module [1]. You have to disconnect a ribbon, unscrew the module and then pop it out. [1] https://www.manualslib.com/manual/3140596/Lg-Oled83g3-Series...

Sometimes those "modules" are just the antenna, and the Wifi is quite capable of connecting with no antenna at all.
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