Key facts
- Samsung is banning smart TV apps that share user internet connections.
- The ban follows security research that found such code in popular apps.
- A featured Pac-Man game was identified as containing this code.
- The ban aims to prevent TVs from being used as cybercrime exit nodes.
- The ban also aims to prevent TVs from being used for data scraping.
- Samsung is removing these apps from its platform.
Samsung has announced a ban on smart TV applications that facilitate the sharing of user internet connections with unknown third parties. This decision comes in response to security research that identified code enabling such data sharing within several popular applications available on Samsung's smart TV platform. Notably, this included a featured Pac-Man game, highlighting the widespread nature of the issue.
The primary objective behind Samsung's ban is to fortify user security and privacy by preventing their internet connections from being repurposed for illicit activities. These applications could potentially turn Samsung smart TVs into exit nodes for cybercrime, allowing malicious actors to route their internet traffic through unsuspecting users' devices. This practice also opens the door to extensive data scraping and other privacy-invasive operations.
By removing these applications, Samsung seeks to mitigate the risks associated with unauthorized use of user bandwidth and IP addresses. The company's move underscores a growing concern among device manufacturers regarding the security implications of third-party applications and their potential to compromise user data and network integrity. The ban is expected to affect users who have installed these specific applications, though the exact number of affected apps and users has not been detailed.