SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the how-do-you-put-a-tinfoil-hat-on-an-antenna? dept.
BBC News is reporting that Smart TVs subverted by radio attack. The attack uses the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard that is widely supported in smart television sets sold in Europe. The HbbTV system was designed to help broadcasters exploit the internet connection of a smart TV to add extra information to programmes or so advertisers can do a better job of targeting viewers. The story goes on to note:
The attack exploits loopholes in widely used technology that helps smart TVs receive tailored adverts. Once hijacked, the TVs could be made to send messages on behalf of attackers, find other vulnerable devices in a home or launch other attacks across the net. Detecting and stopping the attack would be difficult, said the researchers.
This could be used in a wide-spread attack to subvert hundreds or even thousands of Smart TVs at once. If a user had logged into Facebook on their TV, one could use this attack to make Facebook posts on the target's behalf.
Though not mentioned in the article, I would think one could use a very directional antenna and target a specific location or TV.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by WillAdams on Monday June 09 2014, @02:04PM
And please, a numerical display of the volume setting --- our Sanyo doesn't have this, and it really annoys me fiddling w/ the volume each time.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday June 09 2014, @03:23PM
As long as we're wishing, how about a volume balancing control in the TV that would defeat the increased audio signal and so-called "presence" that drives up the volume by several db. Seems to me that a simple op-amp chip could accomplish this.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday June 09 2014, @04:16PM
That's actually a lot harder than it seems like it would be. Especially since commercials audio is engineered to defeat volume control. I got a TV with volume control in the early '90s that worked great for a year or so. Then more and more commercials found various ways to defeat it.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 09 2014, @04:31PM
I'd be happy with a button on the remote that mutes volume by 25db for 3 minutes at a time.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday June 09 2014, @09:49PM
I haven't seen that, but my current TV has a half mute function, just not with a time out.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by edIII on Monday June 09 2014, @04:50PM
Yeah, apparently it took an act of Congress to get them to stop it.
However, I found my "Final Solution" back in 2004. A ReplayTV. Worked excellent. No more commercials. I then upgraded it several years later by cutting the cord completely and relying on 100% piracy (I still paid for movies via Netflix/Blockbuster) to get my TV. They made an admirable attempt to continue their annoyance, but I finally achieved full genocide with the readily available WEB-DL captures that got rid of all of the overlay advertisements embedded in the content.
I haven't seen the work product of any of those parasitic cockroaches for a few years now inside my own little domain. There was also a fortuitous alliance made with Netflix that allowed me to watch thousands of TV shows with no commercials either. I pay a small tribute, but it's worth it. Netflix kills commercials by the millions by lunch every single day.
Quite frankly, I'm continually amazed by other's tolerance and letting "them" continue to live instead of their proper place beneath a boot ;)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.