Samsung Says It’s Banning Smart TV Apps That Expose Users’ Internet Connections

Samsung said it’s making its smart TV app platform more secure after a vulnerability was discovered that could expose users’ internet connections to outside sources. As first reported by TechCrunch, a cybersecurity company called Mnemonic discovered that some apps on Samsung’s smart TV platform have functions that can “route strangers’ web traffic through your home internet connection, making the requests look like they came from you.”

According to Mnemonic, one of the apps in question was a Pac-Man licensed game that Samsung featured on its Editor’s Choice section of its app store. The security company said that installing the Pac-Man app can turn a smart TV into “a residential proxy exit node” at the flip of switch. TechCrunch contacted Samsung about the vulnerability; the tech giant responded by saying it would ban any apps that shared its users’ internet connections. The Samsung spokesperson also told TechCrunch that it was going to implement “strict platform-wide developer policies explicitly banning residential proxy SDKs.”

These residential proxy SDKs — which can remain dormant inside an app until it’s activated to route someone else’s web traffic through a Samsung smart TV’s connected internet — are not an issue exclusive to Samsung. Last month, LG said it would suspend any apps that can turn a customer’s TV into a residential proxy, as reported by KrebsOnSecurity. Aside from smart TVs, residential proxies have also been an issue with VPNs, especially free options.