SoylentNews

Bytram writes:

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.