Wednesday 7 August 2013

How smart TVs can be exploited to spy on their owners

Just like with mobile phones, the more advanced the common television gets, the more likely it can be turned against its users by attackers who can use embedded features, such as microphones, cameras, and lots of storage, to spy on people and steal their sensitive data. At Black Hat USA, two different presentations offered research on how these activities can be carried out against the current generations of Smart TVs. 

It's a troubling development for consumers because, as researcher Seungjin Lee with Korea University put it, when a home computer is hacked there is usually just one main victim. But if a home television is hacked and the camera trained on its watchers, that affects the whole family and invades the most private areas of the home. However, remote attacks against smart TVs aren't just a consumer concern.

'I know some big companies like Google or Microsoft, they use smart TVs in their offices,' he said. 'It is not just about personal stuff or home privacy stuff. It is also about companies that administrate some sensitive data.'

Lee demonstrated some rootkit technology he developed in order to gain complete control over a range Read More

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