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If you are among the ones embracing new technology everyday it releases yet another new gadget or device, you surely are among the ones who already realized that the more developed the tech is, the more aggressive hackers and tech hijackers become, as if they would do anything to prove to the world that safety is just an illusion meant to make us sleep better at night. In truth, hackers out there manage to mess up with almost all our devices in order to hijack our Internet connections or to put their hands on our personal data, accounts, passwords and, of course, money. So who is truly surprised to find out that now hackers found a vulnerable spot to exploit in peoples’ smart TVs?
A Malta-based security company by the name of ReVuln recently proved that European Philips Smart TVs are vulnerable to hijacks because hackers can bug them via Wi – Fi.
How can hackers take control of the European Philips Smart TVs?
The security specialists from ReVuln say that European Philips Smart TVs come together with Miracast, an embedded protocol that allows the users to
connect to a Wi-Fi network and stream online content from computers and mobile devices
The North American Philips Smart TVs come with a similar protocol, WirelessConnect – but the North American Philips division didn’t make any comments on the ReVuln discovery so far. The specialists explained that a hacker can simply take over the TV with the help of a program that mirrors the TV’s remote and from that point on, he can use the TV for streaming content, change channels, mess up with the settings and, more seriously, steal files if the TV happens to have a USB memory stick attached to it.
The even more serious threat that has to be taken into account is that a hacker can gain access to personal accounts – Facebook, Gmail, you name it, as Philips Smart TVs come with an Internet browser that saves and stores private information via cookies, just like computers do. If you can imagine the damage produced not only by the creation of yet another way of stealing our data, you can imagine what live streaming of compromising content can do to some public figures… The news that European Philips Smart TVs are vulnerable to hijacks is definitely unsettling and now everybody expects some comments and feedback on the matters from the North American division.
