Zero Day Hole In Samsung Smart TVs Could Have TV Watching You

chicksdaddy writes with news of a remote exploit in Samsung Smart TVs, and a warning for those who got one with a built-in camera. From the article: "The company that made headlines in October for publicizing zero day holes in SCADA products now says it has uncovered a remotely exploitable security hole in Samsung Smart TVs. If left unpatched, the vulnerability could allow hackers to make off with owners' social media credentials and even to spy on those watching the TV using built-in video cameras and microphones. In an e-mail exchange with Security Ledger, the Malta-based firm said that the previously unknown ('zero day') hole affects Samsung Smart TVs running the latest version of the company's Linux-based firmware. It could give an attacker the ability to access any file available on the remote device, as well as external devices (such as USB drives) connected to the TV. And, in a Orwellian twist, the hole could be used to access cameras and microphones attached to the Smart TVs, giving remote attacker the ability to spy on those viewing a compromised set."

In before Soviet Russia jokes

[tepples]

Unfortunately for people trying to make a "TV watches YOU!" joke, the firm disclosing this vulnerability is based in Malta, not ex-Soviet Russia.

Video Chat

[ZombieBraintrust]

Your laptop has a camera and microphone to enable skype calls. TVs have it for the same reason.

Re:D'oh!

[Anonymous Coward]

"More critically: there is no software update capability, meaning that the exploitable hole can’t be patched without “voiding the device’s warranty and using other exploits,” ReVuln said."

Re:In before Soviet Russia jokes

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, that 1984 happens in 1984 is a common misconception.

1984 is the year winston writes in the first diary entry, but he isn't completely certain that that year is accurate.

"He sat back. A sense of complete helplessness had descended upon him. To begin with, he did not know with any certainty that this was 1984. It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two."