To access streaming on a television you need to have a smart TV or an external device such as Fire TV Stick, Chromecast or box Android TV. This last solution is perhaps not the public’s favorite given the existence of dongles that take up less space and tend to require less expense. However, there is no shortage of those who rely on such systems. However, we must also take into account the brands and reliability of the various models, as researcher Daniel Milisic demonstrated last January with the T95 Android TVs, particularly famous for their affordability.
Well, the situation seems to have worsened drastically as the cybersecurity company Human Security has revealed new details about the infected devices, even discovering seven Android TV boxes and a tablet with backdoors installedin addition to the possible compromise of as many as 200 green robot devices present throughout the world.
The alarm sounds in the Android world: what’s happening?
According to what Human Security reported, the devices most affected are the cheap Android TV boxes sold both online and in physical stores, often with different names despite coming from the same manufacturer. According to the report, those involved were i box T95, T95Z, T95MAX, X88, Q9, X12PLUS e MXQ Pro 5Gm, oltre al tablet J5-W. All are built in China where, before reaching the retailer, a backdoor based on the Triada malware would be installed.
At this point the attackers access the home network and install dangerous packages remotely, activating advertising fraud on all connected devices. According to the company’s predictions, hackers would access to over 10 million home IP addresses and 7 million mobile IP addresses.
Secondly, the cybersecurity firm identified 39 Android, iOS and TV box apps that they would share dangerous advertising with over 250,000 Android and iOS devices, bringing huge profits into the pockets of the bad guys. Fortunately, all Android apps were promptly removed from the Play Store, while some apps are still available for download in the App Store.
The advice of the experts remains the same get rid of the affected Android TV Boxesas malware is extremely difficult to remove without the right technical skills.
In the past, however, we talked about TV Boxes at risk of DDoS attacks.
