The greater the deals are, the less secure your devices may be. Black Friday/Cyber Monday may offer you great deals, but at what price should you risk your privacy and/or security?
The FBI has issued a warning to all consumers to be wary of how secure their devices are, especially Smart TVs. Smart TVs connect to the internet to allow you to use popular streaming services and apps. Many of them come in with a microphone on the controller or on the TV itself. A few the newer TVs also have built-in cameras for facial recognition, to know who is watching and can suggest programming appropriately.
When these TVs are connected to your network, most people don’t bother placing them in a different VLAN, making it easily accessible to all others who have or can get access to your Wi-Fi. Earlier this year, hackers showed it was possible to hijack Google’s Chromecast streaming stick and broadcast random videos to thousands of victims. There are even steps on how to exploit a Samsung Smart TV on WikiLeak.
The FBI recommends placing black tape over an unused smart TV camera, keeping your smart TV up-to-date with the latest patches and fixes, and to read the privacy policy to better understand what your smart TV is capable of. We also recommend buying a Smart TV that comes with the security even if it costs a bit more.
Source: Now Even the FBI is Warning About Your Smart TV’s Security