Samsung is cracking down on smart TV apps that can share a user\u2019s internet connection with outside parties, following new security research that raised concerns about residential proxy software hidden inside some apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move comes after Norwegian cybersecurity firm Mnemonic found that several Samsung smart TV apps contained code that could turn a television into a residential proxy exit node. In plain English, that means someone else\u2019s web traffic could be routed through a user\u2019s home internet connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is a problem because the activity may look like it came from the TV owner\u2019s household, not from the outside party actually using the connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to TechCrunch, Samsung said it has already restricted new app registrations that include proxy functionality on its smart TV platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company also said it is introducing stricter developer rules that explicitly ban residential proxy SDKs and is working to find and remove existing apps that contain those components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samsung\u2019s response followed Mnemonic\u2019s research into apps available through the company\u2019s smart TV ecosystem. The researchers said some apps were basic shells that loaded content from remote servers, which can make app review more difficult because what is reviewed may not always match what later runs on the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the apps reviewed by Mnemonic was a Pac-Man game that had appeared in Samsung\u2019s \u201cEditor\u2019s Choice\u201d section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers found that the app contained Bright Data\u2019s SDK, a tool connected to residential proxy networks. Mnemonic said the SDK was dormant by default in the Pac-Man app during its test, meaning installation alone did not automatically turn the TV into an exit node.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the bigger concern was how easily the system could be activated. Mnemonic said a server-side configuration change, combined with a user accepting a consent prompt, could enable the proxy functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once enabled, the service could continue running in the background even after the user leaves the app, until the app is removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residential proxy networks are not always illegal. They can be used for web scraping, research, market data collection, censorship circumvention, and other purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The risk is that the same setup can also help bad actors hide behind ordinary home internet connections. Cybersecurity companies have warned that residential proxies can be used to disguise attacks, bypass blocks, or make suspicious traffic look like it came from a normal household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For smart TV owners, the issue is simple: many people do not expect a game or streaming app to use their television as a route for someone else\u2019s internet activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even when a consent screen appears, users may not fully understand what they are accepting, especially if the prompt appears before a game starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samsung is not the only TV maker facing questions over proxy software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LG recently said it would suspend smart TV apps that turn televisions into residential proxy nodes after separate reporting found the issue inside a large share of apps on LG\u2019s webOS store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The timing suggests TV makers are under growing pressure to police third-party apps more closely, especially as connected TVs become part of home and office networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samsung has not published a full public list of every affected app as of this writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, users can reduce risk by reviewing installed apps and removing games or apps they no longer use. It is also worth checking whether any app asks to use the TV\u2019s \u201cfree resources,\u201d IP address, or internet connection in exchange for fewer ads or free access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Users should also keep their Samsung TV software updated and avoid accepting consent prompts they do not understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For households with many connected devices, placing smart TVs and other IoT devices on a separate guest network can also limit what those devices can reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not just a Samsung story. It points to a wider smart TV privacy problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TV apps are no longer just simple entertainment shortcuts. Some can load remote code, run background services, and connect to outside networks in ways most users never see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samsung\u2019s ban may help close one part of that gap. But the Mnemonic findings also show why app stores for TVs, streaming devices, and other connected home products need closer review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of this writing, Samsung says it is working to remove apps with residential proxy components from its platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
via: TechCrunch<\/a> | Mnemonic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Samsung is cracking down on smart TV apps that can share a user\u2019s internet connection with outside parties, following new security research that raised concerns … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[145,28,147,146],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software-news","tag-pac-man-app","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-editors-choice","tag-smart-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sebertech.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}