CINEMA VIEWING 'SAFER' THAN IN-HOME VIEWING!

According to the Consumer Electronics Association 49% of U.S. households have at least one 'connected' TV in their home. Called Smart TVs, millions have been sold worldwide but they are all vulnerable  as hackers have now found ways to exploit loopholes in the technology that helps Smart TVs receive advertisements.  Hackers piggyback off of the Hybred Broadcast Broadband TV Standard (HbbTV) that is widely used to support Smart TV reception.

Researchers at Columbia University reported that hackers hijack HbbTV using nothing more than a cheap antenna and carefully crafted broadcast messages - they do not need your internet address. A hacker simply needs a high location (such as a roof top or small drone) and an antenna and once the hacker has completed their attack, they simply leave within a trace.  The hacker can then mimic the real user. For example, if the victim  had logged into Facebook via a TV app, the hack could be used to post messages on the social network on that person's behalf. Alternatively, the loopholes in the HbbTV system could be used to bombard a target website with data or to log spurious votes or clicks.

Broadcasts Know But Can't Prevent the Hacking

In areas where lots of people own Smart TVs, a $250 antenna could reach thousands of  - a bigger antenna could extend the reach of the attack much more.  Hacking into all of your files, stealing your identity, finding your passwords for various financial accounts and on-line services.

Most broadcasters currently use the HbbTV technology and know about this problem but haven't been able to address the issue as it would require a complete re-write of the system. So, perhaps watching a movie at the 'un-connected' cinema and not in your home through the internet is the much safer and smarter thing to do. As we become more and more connected we become more vulnerable and open to the stealing and misuse of our most valuable of personal information.  Keep this in mind whenever you log on to your Smart TV and hope that a thief isn't logging on with you.