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Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#181

Post by acdha »

snickerbockers wrote: post #95
ssl-3 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another winner is the person who gets to watch cheap digital TV, without putting together a usable antenna and limiting their reception to the broadcast channels that are nearby. I mean: They just pay the money, plug the thing in, push some buttons, and: TV happens. Right?

Theres the question of whether or not the fraudulent advertisement clicking is using enough traffic to inconvenience or impose fees upon the user but otherwise I agree with you and am tempted to buy one just to fuck with advertisers. Backdoors and spying are also a problem in theory except at this point you can't even trust "legitimate" companies on that front so it's a moot point.

> otherwise I agree with you and am tempted to buy one just to fuck with advertisers.

How that actually works in practice is that your favorite sites make less money and your IP gets a bad reputation so you CAPTCHAs or outright blocked. There’s no “sticking it to the man” here, just contributing to the frictional grind making the internet worse for ordinary people.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#182

Post by brewdad »

mmooss wrote: post #163
iamben wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's a default for a lot of the older (and some of the younger!) generation, same goes for news and media. They grew up in a time where there was a practical barrier to publishing and (largely) laws behind you doing it. So they trust literally everything they read. I still don't think my folks can fathom you can spin up a very real looking newspaper website with fake articles in about 10 minutes.

I find younger people are more likely to trust whatever they read - social media rumors, LLM output, Reddit threads - and older people looking for credible sources.

When my kid was young I set up a basic web server and taught him how to make a VERY basic web page. I let him write whatever nonsense he wanted to and then we made it live.

It was both a gateway into learning how the web works but also that literally anyone can post anything to the internet and it doesn't make it true. I like to think he's more savvy than many of his peers but we all have our blind spots.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#183

Post by boondongle »

SoftTalker wrote: post #145

> Despite repeated warnings from the FBI and security industry leaders about the security and privacy risks of using these streaming devices, major e-commerce providers like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and others continue to sell hundreds of different models and brands I scanned the comments and I didn't see anyone suggesting that these companies should share any responsibility for selling these harmful products. Why is…

Just being realistic here; many of these are of Chinese make so how exactly would you stop it other than blocking them from being sold. They certainly don't advertise to the big box retailer that buys them "and it uses the customer's internet connection for fraud."

Hell, there's a section of comments that would probably going "hey, RELAX guy" because it's not US companies doing this. For any American companies that do this though, sure - block/suspend/prosecute.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#184

Post by al_borland »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #6

> generic TV boxes that promise unlimited content streaming for a one-time fee I don't want to blame the purchasers of these things - who are some of the victims - but at the same time, it does seem like a Too Good To Be True situation.

Why should anyone assume a product being sold by (or at least on) Amazon, the latest retailer in the country, is an illegal device?

It’s not like they’re buying these things out of a car trunk in a dark alley. These retailers need to be held liable for selling these things. If they sell this stuff, why not illicit drugs?

If they are unable to maintain control of 3rd party sellers, then they should end the 3rd party seller program. It has done nothing but damage Amazon’s reputation, and it just keeps getting worse.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#185

Post by contravariant »

SiempreViernes wrote: post #161
mikestew wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upon connecting it to the internet… I hesitate to blame the victim here, but why on earth would you do that? “$40 Chinese-made” didn’t give you pause?

This is an age where even teacups demand internet connectivity to fetch firmware updates

I mean I get why my cups need frequent java updates, but still.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#186

Post by ryandrake »

SoftTalker wrote: post #145

> Despite repeated warnings from the FBI and security industry leaders about the security and privacy risks of using these streaming devices, major e-commerce providers like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and others continue to sell hundreds of different models and brands I scanned the comments and I didn't see anyone suggesting that these companies should share any responsibility for selling these harmful products. Why is…

I would very much be in favor of grocery stores sharing responsibility (and regulatory penalties) for selling tainted food! It's kind of mind boggling that this is controversial. "Buyer beware" is not an acceptable basis for society to function.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#187

Post by dboreham »

simojo wrote: post #108

We purchased a Chinese-made projector from Amazon, which was surprisingly inexpensive (~40 USD). Upon connecting it to the internet, it placed a constantly running feed of ads on the corner of the screen, even while movies were playing. There was no way to disable it either. Even though it's not a stick, it's a similar principle.

Capitalism!

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#188

Post by hn_submit »

autoexec wrote: post #158
hn_submit wrote: post #111

I already suggested the U.S. government ban all Chinese products which have a computer in them that's connected to the internet. Instead they're banning stuff willy nilly left and right without really solving the problem. But there's good stuff coming out of China as well. I recently bought a cheap e-reader which has no WiFi or internet connection and it works stellar. And I bought some cheap Chinese sport cams which…

> I already suggested the U.S. government ban all Chinese products which have a computer in them that's connected to the internet. Personally, I think every other country should ban any product made by Google, Amazon, and Microsoft since they all spy on the users of their products too.

I've suggested legislation which would ban the sale of customer information to third-parties.

These companies could use the info they gather on customers for their own use but they cannot (re)sell it to anyone, not even the government. The reason being that the information eventually ends up abroad after which you lose all control over it.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#189

Post by blackjack_ »

kube-system wrote: post #151
glitchc wrote: post #4

Defrauding ad networks doesn't seem like a bad thing, although using my internet connection as a proxy is obviously terrible. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that my connection is being sold as a VPN service by the vendor.

Fraud is also bad, even if you aren't fond of those being defrauded.

Fraud that destroys market trust in a market that mostly deals in surveillance and selling intrusive data that was collected mostly unknowingly from the subject seems great to everyone who has any amount of integrity.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#190

Post by Terr_ »

Pxtl wrote: post #142
zeafoamrun wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they do. USPIS does not f around

Oddly they don't ever seem to prosecute the sites that profit from selling them. Funny, that.

It doesn't seem too weird to me: Selling someone fake stamps is a general act of fraud, between buyer and seller, and would be pursued by state/federal attorneys general.

The USPS becomes directly involved only later, when someone tries to defraud them by using a fake stamp.

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