Author’s take: Samsung’s decision closes an important security gap because most TV owners would not expect a simple game or app to let other people route internet traffic through their home connection.
Samsung is banning Smart TV apps that use residential proxy software to share a user’s internet connection with third parties.
The company confirmed the change after cybersecurity researchers at Mnemonic found residential proxy software inside several Samsung Smart TV apps, including games from Play.Works.
Samsung has already restricted new apps containing the technology and says it is working to remove existing apps that use it.
Key Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Company | Samsung |
| Devices | Samsung Smart TVs |
| Issue | Apps containing residential proxy software |
| Action | New apps are restricted and existing apps will be removed |
| Researcher | Mnemonic |
| Software found | Bright Data residential proxy SDK |
| Main risk | Third-party internet traffic can be routed through a user’s connection |
What Happened?
Norwegian cybersecurity company Mnemonic investigated Samsung’s Smart TV platform and found that several apps contained software capable of turning a television into a residential proxy node.
A residential proxy allows another person or company to route internet traffic through a household internet connection. To websites and online services, that traffic can appear to come from the TV owner’s home IP address.
After TechCrunch contacted Samsung about the findings, Samsung said it had already restricted new Smart TV apps containing proxy functionality.
Samsung also said it is introducing developer policies that explicitly ban residential proxy SDKs and is identifying existing apps that contain them so they can be removed.
How Can a Samsung Smart TV Become a Proxy?
Mnemonic found Bright Data’s residential proxy SDK inside apps made by Play.Works, a developer that offers games such as Pac-Man, Tetris, Space Invaders and other titles across connected TV platforms.
One Pac-Man app containing the SDK had even appeared in Samsung’s Editor’s Choice section.
However, simply installing the Pac-Man app did not automatically turn the TV into a proxy.
The researchers found that the Bright Data software was dormant by default. A server-side setting could activate the feature, after which the app displayed a consent screen.
If the user accepted, the proxy service could continue running in the background even after the user left the app.
What Is a Residential Proxy?
A residential proxy routes someone else’s internet traffic through a normal home internet connection.
Companies can use residential proxies for legitimate purposes such as collecting public web data or accessing websites from different locations.
However, the same technology can also make malicious activity harder to detect because the traffic appears to come from an ordinary residential IP address instead of a known server or suspicious network.
Why Does This Matter for Samsung TV Owners?
The main concern is control over a user’s home internet connection.
Most people installing a TV game or entertainment app would not expect that app to contain software capable of routing another party’s internet traffic through their network.
Researchers also found that some Samsung TV apps load much of their code from remote servers. This means an app’s behavior can change after Samsung has reviewed and approved it.
Mnemonic summarized the problem clearly: the code Samsung reviews is not always the same code that ultimately runs on the TV.
That makes residential proxy apps harder for app stores to monitor.
Were Samsung TVs Being Used Without Permission?
The Mnemonic research does not show that every affected Samsung Smart TV was secretly being used as a proxy.
In the apps researchers examined, Bright Data’s SDK included a consent process before the proxy function became active.
The concern is that users may not fully understand what they are agreeing to, particularly when the request appears inside a simple game.
Researchers also warned that remotely loaded code gives developers significant control over how an app behaves after installation.
What Should Samsung Smart TV Owners Do?
Samsung TV owners do not need to assume their television has been compromised.
However, users can take a few simple precautions:
- Remove apps you no longer use or do not recognize.
- Be cautious when an app asks to share your internet connection, bandwidth or network resources.
- Do not accept permission screens without reading what they allow.
- Keep the Samsung TV software updated.
- Review installed apps regularly and delete unnecessary ones.
Users who installed games from Play.Works may also want to review whether they still need those apps.
Samsung says it is already working to identify and remove apps containing residential proxy components.
Sebertech Analysis
Samsung’s policy change addresses the immediate problem, but the research highlights a bigger Smart TV security issue.
Some TV apps function mainly as small shells that download their real content from a remote server. Mnemonic found that the Pac-Man app package itself contained only a small amount of local code while much of the game was loaded online.
That approach makes apps easier to update, but it also makes app-store review more difficult.
A developer can potentially change remotely hosted code without submitting an entirely new version of the app for review.
For Samsung, banning residential proxy SDKs is therefore only part of the solution. Enforcement will also depend on the company’s ability to detect apps that change behavior after approval.
What Is Still Unknown?
Samsung has not publicly provided a full list of Smart TV apps containing residential proxy software.
It is also unclear how many Samsung TVs actually activated the proxy feature after users accepted a consent screen.
Play.Works says its broader game portfolio reaches hundreds of millions of homes, but the available research does not establish that all of those installations were Samsung TVs or that all of them were actively operating as residential proxy nodes.
What Happens Next?
Samsung says it is implementing stricter developer policies and removing apps that contain residential proxy SDKs.
The next question is how effectively Samsung can detect proxy functionality in apps that load or change code remotely.
Mnemonic also says it plans to continue investigating residential proxy software across apps and connected-device platforms.
Sources: Mnemonic security research; TechCrunch
Written by Grace Hisona
Published: August 28, 2026, 7:57 PM PHT
