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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

#281

Post by 8note »

miladyincontrol wrote: post #146
bigmattystyles wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, everything is Chinese made. I would be even the Apple TV and NVIDIA Shield are made in China and if a state actor is determined to get a malicious payload in....

To play devil's advocate, when someone says "Chinese made" they're usually well aware of your point, and are more using it as a common way to describe product mills spitting out countless devices with dubious quality or configuration. Of course theres good products made in China, and plenty of entirely Chinese brands killing it doing their thing.

its pretty straight racism though.

its US software companies that are the worst of the worst in terms of adware and malware being shipped under monopoly control

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#282

Post by 8note »

mortenjorck wrote: post #3

In this case it’s actual malice, that the streaming stick is set up for residential proxy and ad fraud straight from the factory. But incompetence can lead to the same place if it’s a poorly engineered, un-maintained device with an old version of Android that will never be patched and is always one no-click exploit away from being commandeered into residential proxy and ad fraud.

consumers are however happy to buy a cheaper stick with an overall public bad

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#284

Post by jojobas »

dboreham wrote: post #187
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!

At least in capitalism you have the choice to look for a malware-free alternative. 100% USSR, had it survived to the IoT era, would penalize you for not having a state-mandated surveillance device on at all times.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#285

Post by wewtyflakes »

ls612 wrote: post #147
wewtyflakes wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of ads on Apple TV; huge banners right at the top of the UI, and ads that launch before you get to see the content of a show with no way to automatically disable them (you have to manually click through or just wait it out). It is infuriating (to me).

Apple TV the app has ads for Apple TV shows. Apple TV the device doesn’t have ads built in.

The TV app is baked into the device and is automatically focused if you press up too many times on the remote (and thereby triggering the large banner ads).

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#286

Post by jms703 »

You buy garbage, you get garbage. You can no longer depend on resellers or to protect you. They are unphased and unaffected by selling you this garbage. No one else has a financial incentive to protect you. Sorry if this sounds victim blamey. Don't mean it to be. Just trying to convey that we're on our own.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#287

Post by al_borland »

altruios wrote: post #262
omilu wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco vets their products very well, if I see something at costco and its something I need I just buy it. No need to research and I've never been burned. They only sell good quality stuff.

Costco isn't perfect, and things slip through still. For example: this is a minor annoyance, but comes readily to mind. https://www.costco.com/p/-/orgain-organic-protein-and-superf... The problem is labeling conventions leading to inaccurate assumptions of what's even IN that "protein powder"... you would think the protein, being the largest in print, is the primary ingredient but no. A serving is 51grams, and the pr…

Ingredients are listed in order from greatest to least amount. Protein is listed first. It seems it’s the creamer that throws off the ratio you’re looking at, which I’m assuming is there for consistency/taste.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#288

Post by _carbyau_ »

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 the world view (aka context) of this little old lady?

Watch the news and see CEO's with golden handshakes after the company is nailed for something. Wall street failures. Companies getting government bailouts. The current US president. It is all about getting away with what you can.

The news - being the news - doesn't show process as per normal. People doing the right thing most of the time.

In this context, fake stamps for the "little person" doesn't even rate a mention. Who the hell is going to raise a moral panic about an old lady with fake stamps...

And so the "little people" will keep buying fake whatevers as long as it stretches their dollar further.

Re: Read this before you buy that TV streaming stick

#290

Post by femto »

omilu wrote: post #251
al_borland wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the main value propositions for retailers in a world of endless cheap garbage being sold online, is to vet products so customers can trust that what their buying is from a legitimate company and not junk or stuff like these streaming sticks. This is the problem with being an “everything store”. “Everything” includes a lot of things most consumers would like to be protected from, and assume they are due to the…

Costco vets their products very well, if I see something at costco and its something I need I just buy it. No need to research and I've never been burned. They only sell good quality stuff.

Check their tomato paste. It turns out that nearly every tomato paste in Australia comes from Xinjiang in China, including those marked as Australian or Italian. Simplot (Leggos), the big US company, was the worst offender, so it's possible that tomato paste in Costco's US stores has been produced in Xinjiang using slave labour, irrespective of what the label says.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/australian-tomatoes-l...

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