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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

#191

Post by al_borland »

mmooss wrote: post #160
mhurron wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My falther-in-law was less that and more, if I can get away with it, it's actually legal. Many know their fake, and do it because they can get away with it. That was his justification for a satellite descrambler, they're sending me the signals, obviously I'm allowed to.

I can imagine many on HN having excited discussions about their satellite descramblers. > do it because they can get away with it. Lots of people on HN download and upload copyrighted materials. Is it really different?

They aren’t downloading that content from a company with a $2.5T market cap. They presumably aren’t making a living by selling that copyrighted material via a retail that claims to run a legitimate business.

I think that makes a big difference.

Imagine if Amazon Video, Audible, and Kindle will all just pirate stores, where uploaders of the pirated content made money on the downloads, people paid for those downloads, and Amazon took a cut of everything. How long would that go on before they were in court and that was shutdown?

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#192

Post by pibaker »

Arainach wrote: post #172
deepfriedbits wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this, I caught myself wondering how we distill what's in this excellent write up into something the average consumer understands, including the dangers from buying and using devices like this. Is it a graphic that's shared? Something else? I am sure we all know or have heard of people with these devices that promise free streaming.

The bigger problem is convincing them to care. Botnets are abstract - where's the pain to them? Ad farms? That's "just hurting big corporations". Remember, a significant portion of the population got angry (often violently so) when just asked to wear a mask to protect their neighbors. And the threat there was significantly easier to explain.

Just tell the anti mask types the TV sticks come with CCP hacking software preinstalled.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#193

Post by SoftTalker »

ryandrake wrote: post #186
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.

I can't think of a case where a supermarket, upon becoming aware of a problem with a food product, didn't immediately pull it from the shelves, post a notice to customers, and offer a full refund to anyone who had purchased it.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#194

Post by malfist »

boondongle wrote: post #183
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 d…

If I open my own line of home improvement stores and do no oversight on what I sell and wind up selling really dangerous lawnmowers, I'm partly responsible.

Or if I open up a gas station and allow any company without oversight to sell "supplements" through my shelves and cops arrest me for selling heroin, I don't get a free pass.

Why should amazon or Walmart get a free pass just because they sell more items?

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#195

Post by mattmcknight »

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…

This is why I hate the "marketplace" of these stores. In many cases these products never hit their inventory at all, they are functioning like a search engine and payments processor.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#196

Post by mmooss »

havaloc wrote: post #11
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.

I have an elderly client who sends me links of stuff to buy all the time. One day it's one of these streaming sticks, the next day it's half-price stamps, and I tell her every time, please don't buy this stuff. And yet she does anyway, as if I was almost being mean and saying no just to say no. So yes, I do want to blame the purchasers of these things, sometimes. To prove her point that her stamps were legitimate, sh…

> half-price stamps

Who is selling half-price stamps?

#1 How big is your potential market? It's people still mailing things from home, who haven't figured out how to do postage on their computer.

#2 Of the population in #1, it's those who find real stamps so expensive that it's worth bothering with discounts.

#3 Of the population in #2, it's those who would want to buy something fraudulant (or not know better) and who would want to risk using it.

#4 Considering the size of the #3 population, how many stamps do they use in a month?

#5 What is your margin on a half-price stamp? You have to pay for advertising, printing (we're talking a profit margin under $1), packaging, and your own time, but at least shipping is free!

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#197

Post by Tangurena2 »

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.

The streaming services have fractured and taken so many movies off their service so much that it is too hard for most people to figure out where that show/movie can be found.

From a link above to the story on darknetdiaries:

> For Pokemon, there is a website that tells you how to watch this. You start off on Netflix, then swap over to the Pokemon streaming service, which is the only place that has Season 2, then swap over to Prime Video for Seasons 3 through 5, swap to Freevee, then Hoopla. Season 13 is only on Amazon, though. Then swap to Tubi, then Hulu, then Roku channel, and then finally back to the Pokemon streaming, and then Netflix. Easy.

That's 8 different streaming services to view one series.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#198

Post by doctorspazz »

labbett wrote: post #135
FinnKuhn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those TV streaming boxes really are (from a cybersecurity perspective) probably one of the worst things you can buy. Here is the "Darknet Diaries" Episode on them: https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/172/

Superbox 3 is coming up at DEF CON next Friday! https://hackertracker.app/defcon34/content/67257

Thank you for sharing this. The superbox investigations have been incredibly interesting to follow.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#199

Post by simojo »

xyx0826 wrote: post #130
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.

I remember reading an analysis on one of those projectors; the author found a residential proxy running on their device. I would recommend keeping these things off the internet.

I'd be very interested to see it if you still have access to it.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#200

Post by rrr_oh_man »

havaloc wrote: post #11
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.

I have an elderly client who sends me links of stuff to buy all the time. One day it's one of these streaming sticks, the next day it's half-price stamps, and I tell her every time, please don't buy this stuff. And yet she does anyway, as if I was almost being mean and saying no just to say no. So yes, I do want to blame the purchasers of these things, sometimes. To prove her point that her stamps were legitimate, sh…

What is your line of work, if I may ask?
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