{"id":4902,"date":"2011-12-20T21:21:07","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T02:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/?p=4902"},"modified":"2022-08-26T16:38:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T20:38:47","slug":"web-connectable-tv-sales-soar-new-source-of-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/web-connectable-tv-sales-soar-new-source-of-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Connected Television New Source of Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WebYou may want to consider the security of the fancy new 55-inch high-def LCD Television<\/a> that Santa Claus brings you. <\/em>Surprise,<\/em> surprise, <\/em>surprise<\/em> they may have security holes that could allow hackers to take over your home network.\u00a0<\/em>Consumer appetite for on-demand and online video content will drive sales of Internet-connectable TV devices<\/strong> to nearly 350 million units worldwide by 2015 reports ITnewsLink<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Parks Associates<\/a>\u2019 Connected Living Room: Web-enabled TVs and Blu-ray Players<\/a> forecasts worldwide sales of Internet-connectable HDTVs<\/a>, Blu-ray players<\/a>, game consoles<\/a>, and digital video players like Apple<\/a>‘s (AAPL<\/a>) Apple TV<\/a> will grow about fourfold from 2010.<\/p>\n

Parks Associates says all major manufacturers are debuting new models with innovations in content aggregation, apps development, and user interfaces. Content options are finally catching up to the hardware innovations, and growing libraries of on-demand movies and TV available are starting to unlock the potential of connected TV<\/a> devices as multifunction online entertainment and communications platforms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The growth of these devices will increase opportunities for apps developers – including third-party developers and giants such as Google<\/a> (GOOG<\/a>), Samsung<\/a>, and Yahoo<\/a> (YHOO<\/a>), and one other group, hackers.<\/p>\n

\"Mocana<\/a> Mocana<\/a>, a company that focuses on securing the \u201cInternet of Things<\/a>\u201d, released a study that highlights digital security<\/a> flaws in Internet-connected HDTVs<\/strong> reports ITnewsLink<\/em><\/a>. The Mocana researchers believe that the security flaws exist in many Internet TVs and recommend that consumers seek out third-party security tests before they purchase and install them in their homes.<\/p>\n

Mocana\u2019s CEO Adrian Turner<\/a> told ITnewsLink<\/em>: \u201c…manufacturers are rushing Internet-connected consumer electronics to market without bothering to secure them<\/strong> … consumer electronics companies that might lack internal security expertise should seek it out, before connecting their portfolio of consumer devices to the Internet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ComputerMocana\u2019s research shows that attackers may be able to leverage Internet-connected TVs to hack into consumers\u2019 home networks<\/strong>. Researchers found that the Internet interface failed to confirm script integrity before those scripts were run. Mocana was able to show that JavaScript<\/a><\/strong> could then be injected into the normal data stream, allowing attackers to obtain total control over the device\u2019s Internet functionality<\/strong>. As a result, an attacker could intercept transmissions from the television to the network using common \u201crogue DNS<\/a>\u201d, \u201crogue DHCP<\/a> server\u201d, or TCP session hijacking<\/a> techniques. The security holes could allow attackers to:<\/p>\n