I have a question about Internet-enabled televisions, also called Smart TV. I myself am still in possession of an old tube TV, which was sometimes expensive, but today he is of course again very far behind the technology. So I'm thinking about whether it's not time to buy a new one, preferably a smart one as well. But since I'm a little bit distrustful and unfortunately I've heard a lot of negative about television of this kind, I'm not sure if I should really do that either. My concerns go in the direction that I could sit on the sofa and could be monitored / observed by strangers in my room without my knowledge, there are such stories about these TV sets. As a technology nob I do not know how far such a scenario could become reality.
That's why my question, such TV devices have all a camera integrated, maybe even a camera that was not listed in the purchase at the time of purchase, for example, hidden behind the screen? Is something like that generally conceivable or is a camera in any case also visible and explicitly listed in the operating instructions?
As I said, I'm very suspicious of these new TVs, but I do not want to shut down on the new technology anyway. Please only serious answers. Thank you
ps. I also do not have a laptop yet, so I would also write answers. Laptops listen to my question about Smart TV.
If you do not explicitly buy a TV with a camera and a microphone, then they have nothing built in there.
Heimlich would not be possible - with the amount of buyers and product tests someone would find out. To equip certain devices individually would be too expensive.
And finally - you decide whether the device uses your Internet or not. If you do not give the device a connection, it can't use the Internet.
I do not know. If you connect the TV to the Internet, is it generally possible to be spied on by strangers? How do such hackers go about it (to know what precautions to take in case of a new purchase)?
More or less every television has a microphone installed
When the SmartTV responds to gesture control, it also has a built-in camera. If it responds to calls, there's also a microphone. If it has Internet connection, it also transmits your input to the Internet.
A SmartTV is as smart as a laptop or tablet without the same security features as virus scanners and regular updates. Therefore, no SmartTVs may be used at my workplace. At home, I would definitely not set one up.
If you want to look at Netflix, it is clear that they also record user behavior. If you take a lot of breaks, even in exciting places, you will get more advertising, which refers to bladder weaknesses. "Modern technnik" means to sell intimate data for some convenience. This applies to all smartphones, including Windows 10, and Mozilla's Firefox wants to push a pocket.
Hidden cameras will probably not exist, unless the CIA has specifically targeted you and manipulated the device. Instead, cameras are being advertised because people are still keen to have that as a feature and be able to control the "TV" with gestures, rather than picking up a dumb remote.
It is not necessary to spy on "secretly", because far too many users give their consent to public spying without hesitation.
You are not suspicious, but rather almost paranoid.
There's not a single reasonably serious story about secret video surveillance by a SmartTV off the rack. You should be suspicious of such stories.
SmartTVs come with the equipment therefore, which are also indicated. You can also monitor the return channel if you are interested. As you can see immediately, if pictures are sent back.
External control of built-in cameras or microphones is generally possible with laptop and consorts. But you can easily prevent it. Corresponding anti-malware software make this reliable.
You have to explain that in detail. Every TV has a micro installed? I honestly never heard of it. Can you switch that off, so that a hacker can't turn it back on? Mirkofon on TV? Sounds like North Korea…
I installed Kaspersky on my old machine, do you mean that?
Well, a speaker can also be used as a mirkofon. You can switch off that probably only if you take the device from the network. That a hacker, however, invades your network to listen to you over the speakers of the television I consider extremely low if you are not just any important person.
If you connect the TV to the Internet, is it generally possible to be spied on by strangers?
If you go to the Internet with a smartphone or a computer, you can generally be spied on too.
Or with a camera from neighbor's window.
How do such hackers go about it (to know what precautions to take in case of a new purchase)?
If you have no idea about computer networking and programming, as well as the internal workings of CPUs, then it will be hard to give you a better answer than, "You're trying known security holes and see if it works". There are no people who go deeper and develop a new exploit just for you with the deepest hardware knowledge. That's a far too unimportant human being - like all of us
If you want to make arrangements:
Buy a device without a camera (then they have no!). Go after the purchase EVERY little setting and deny eg. Sending diagnostic data to improve the washes. Do not create accounts with the manufacturers, do not join a cloud and use the device as it stands.
For example.
I'm not. Sounds disturbing. Is it simple for a hacker, where is he supposed to know my password, ie the WLAN password, if it consists of maybe 100 numbers and letters?
It is possible to hack every device connected to the internet. You can protect yourself by your own behavior. In the case of the television, however, you are relatively powerless. However, you can ask yourself - why should someone hack you exactly at ~ 8mrd people? Individuals are totally uninteresting to hackers.
Yes, that's the way it is today, crazy. Can you please explain to me what you mean by a countermeasure, so bez. The camera?
Then you have nothing to fear.
Well, what does it mean? Bruteforce is of course always and is also very simple, however, it costs an extremely long time with a sufficiently secure password. The attacker may be able to penetrate a security breach. Even by a virus or a trojan he could possibly come to the wlan password.
but as I said, the whole is anything but probable.
Better a bit paranoid than to appear on the internet one day without your own consent.
See, e.g.
Is Kaspersky secure enough to plug such security holes? I do not know Brutforce at all.
And why do you then have to connect a TV to the Internet?
But you should really be more suspicious of such conspiracy theories.
You probably do not understand…
That's why I inform myself so as not to be more stupid afterwards than before. Judging by the answers, there's a danger but probably not if no camera was installed in the TV. And btw. Many a VT became a fact in hindsight.
Preventing external control of SmartTVs is already more difficult or even impossible. There are devices that switch on. But you have too little computing power to really be able to analyze language. Consequently, they scan the calls in the room and have them evaluated on the Internet. A cruelly bad idea!
One can reprogram the firmware of the cameras in MacBooks. No virus scanner can look into the firmware.
No single conspiracy was ever true.
Generally, anti-virus programs only protect inexperienced users from the worst. And this task is done by the windows defender now also relatively well. On the contrary, Kaspersky does not stuff the security holes on the contrary, on the contrary, an external anti-virus program even creates additional security gaps.
but there are enough malware that is not detected by virus scanners. Simply surfing the internet is actually the best protection in combination with one or the other browser addon.
bruteforce simply means to try out every possible combination for the password.
Quark. Alone the existing router already does 99% of all "dangers".
The biggest security hole is the user himself.
What do you think about the fabled Tor network? Is it safer to surf monitoring, or is it just catching the peasants?
No, that is actually much safer than surfing the normal web without the tor browser.
This one surfs but also much slower, even with a 50000er line…
Yes. This is because the traffic is routed through multiple nodes, meaning every user consumes a multiple of what he would normally consume to traffic.
If you want to exploit the possibilities of a SmartTVs, you have to unlock this anyway in the router. If the router should block it, you can easily do it over port 80 or 8080, which has been enabled for Internet contact anyway.
On the internet you have to deal with 2 million sources of danger (the absolute number does not really matter here, maybe just 100,000 or 10 million). If you do 99% of that via a router, you're still in massive danger. If the routers are maintained by laymen, they are always a well-fed for attacks. Even for professionals, it is a full time job to keep a network clean and that keeps going awry - see, e.g. The total collapse of the network of the Bundestag.
How your router should limit a firmware attack on a MacBook camera, remains a mystery. Attacking a computer is easily possible with a spear-fishing attack and a SmartTV has little to oppose. Instead of countering with "Quark", you should inform yourself better.
