ALEXANDRIA, VA.—
It turns out that the latest
crop of “smart TVs”
may not so smart after
all, at least not smart
enough to protect their
purchasers.
If you’ve bought a
laptop, smartphone, or
a certain tablet or smart
TV in the past few years,
you’ve probably noticed
a small camera installed above the screens.
How many times these are actually used
depends upon your affinity for services
like Skype, but it seems that hackers have
also found a use for them: To spy on you.
This disturbing news was revealed earlier
this month when an Internet security
research firm demonstrated at a hacker’s
convention how easy it was to break into a
2012 Samsung Smart TV to control the television’s
camera, Web browser and other
functions, possibly enabling such hackers
to spy on their users.
iSEC Partners, the research firm that
demonstrated the hacking, originally discovered
the problem late last year and
notified Samsung, which said it responded
by updating the software. That wasn’t
enough, obviously, as demonstrated by the
hackers. In light of this latest
revelation, the company said
that it “takes all concerns regarding
consumer privacy
and information security very
seriously,” and that it had released
a further software update
to “resolve this issue.”
And if customers are not reassured
that the software update
is enough, Samsung also
recommended that users turn the camera
into the bezel of the TV when not in use,
unplug the TV from the home network
when not using the smart TV features, and
as an added precaution, using encrypted
wireless access points when using connected
devices.
But the one solution they didn’t mention
that is probably the most fool-proof:
Cover the camera lens with a piece of
duct tape—an analog solution to a digital
problem.
Although the consumer
electronics manufacturers
would like to think the issue
has been resolved, it wasn’t
enough for New York Democratic
Sen. Chuck Schumer,
who fired off a letter to
Samsung, LG, Sony and other
TV makers that sell smart TVs
to wise up.
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Duct tape: an analog solution to a digital problem. |
“I was disturbed to read
recent reports of hackers exploiting new
features in television sets in order to
break into home entertainment systems
of users and spy on unsuspecting channel
surfers,” Schumer wrote. “For a TV to secretly
function as a spycam would violate
a fundamental expectation of privacy in
the American home. Televisions now have
Wi-Fi, cameras, and other features similar
to those of a computer.” Schumer continued.
He concluded his letter by urging
the companies to adopt a “uniform set of
safety and security standards” to prevent
future hacking.
This incident is just the latest in a long
line of privacy issues created by ever
smarter consumer electronics; the smart
TV hacking problem was raised a year
and a half ago but it seems that the hackers
continue to be one step ahead of the
manufacturers.
In a period of justifiable angst over
privacy issues, the smart TV problem is
probably low on the priority list and for
most consumers, fairly easily fixed. And it
will most likely pale compared to the next
anticipated mass camera surveillance dilemma:
Google Glass.