A new exploit allows hackers to hijack your TV broadcast

The fear of hackers being able to control TV broadcasts has been there since the first TV was made, but recently, that fear was revived after a new exploit that affects smart TVs was discovered, this exploit allows hackers to completely control the victims’ TV.

Rafael Scheel, a security researcher working with Oneconsult, outlined that this exploit controls the victims’ TV by embedding code into digital (specifically, DVB-T) over-the-air broadcasts, and so the hacker will be able to control the TV without the need of physically accessing the device. This exploit uses a flaw in the web browser found on some smart TVs that allows it to access root files. After that, the hacker can virtually control the TV completely.

All the hacker needs is a strong signal broadcaster, one powerful enough to send signals to the victims’ TV, the hacking will at least be successful once without showing any suspicious signs. This exploit was tested on two new Samsung smart TVs and was proven effective, but the real danger lies in the ability to enhance this exploit to affect more and more TVs.

Anyhow, even though this is a dangerous exploit, and even that it can be developed to target more TV sets, being only effective on DVB-T and HbbTV supporting TV sets means that most TVs won’t be affected by it, because most TVs don’t use these channels. Plus, north American TV sets use the ATSC channel that isn’t yet affected. And of course, people who use a game console or media hub are also out of the red circle.

Smart TVs were always somehow ignored compared to PCs and mobile phones in terms of security updates, maybe this will bring the attention of big companies towards the importance of TV systems’ security updates.

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