The TV should be safe

And here the question arises: are we aware of how much information flows through the screen hanging in the living room?

If someone had said 10 years ago that a TV set could be the target of a cyber attack, many of us would have laughed. Meanwhile, today a TV is simply a computer – only bigger, for many people prettier and typically programmed for entertainment. For movies, gaming, sports, internet browsing, communication and more.

Let’s think for a moment:

• Are you logging in to Netflix, HBO, Prime?

• Do you have a Google or Samsung account assigned to you?

• Do you pay for subscriptions by card?

• Do you share your password with household members, guests or children?

• Is your TV connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your smartphone, computer, maybe smart lights, vacuum cleaner or alarm?

This means that there is a lot of information about us on TV. Just like phones, they contain personal and payment information that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could be worth more than the hardware itself.

Therefore, it is not a problem that someone will “suspect what we are watching.” The point is:

• the login and password are often the same for the Netflix account, e-mail and… bank,

• the TV is an access point to the home network,

• any device connected to the Internet can be used as a gateway.

The biggest change that the Smart TV era has brought is that the technology we live with has become invisible. We no longer see cables, modems or servers. Everything “just works”. And what “just works” is the easiest thing to miss.

That’s why TV manufacturers – at least the serious ones – invest in solutions that are supposed to work automatically, without the need to know passwords such as “system kernel layer encryption protocol”. Because no one who is not an expert wants to really deal with it.

Samsung does this using the Knox security platform. This name is not accidental – inspired by Fort Knox, one of the best guarded places in the world. In practice, the idea is that the TV itself will make sure that no one is trying to “tinker” with the system. And he would react immediately.

What exactly does this mean?

• Login data (passwords, e-mails, payments) are stored in a separate, encrypted part of the device.

• The system monitors itself, like a home alarm.

• Each time the TV is turned on, it checks whether the system has not been changed.

• When a new threat appears, the update fixes the vulnerability.

That is: we watch a series and the TV acts as our “bodyguard”.

The terms “security”, “encryption”, “certification” sound like slogans from a sales presentation – until we look deeper. The Knox(1) platform is used by:

• Polish Army,

• Ministry of Digitization,

• ABW, which renews certification every year,

• US Department of Defense,

• Swiss Federal Railway.

And it doesn’t look like a slogan anymore. This is a proven technology used where there is no room for errors, even the smallest ones.

In the world of TVs, Samsung was the first manufacturer to receive the international Common Criteria safety certificate (recognized by 31 countries). This is not a reward for nice design. This confirms that the security system is “difficult to bypass”.

TV – the new guardian of the smart home

Today, the TV can be the home control center: close the blinds, connect to the refrigerator, turn on the lights, the vacuum cleaner or the air purifier.

So if the TV is unsecured, it works like an apartment lock that we open with an application, but we do not lock it with a key.

If it is well secured, your TV becomes an additional layer of protection.

Times have changed

Home security used to be measured by the type of lock on the door. Today – also about what devices we allow into our network.

This doesn’t mean we have to live in paranoia and cover the TV with a blanket. Just awareness. The TV in the living room is part of our digital life and deserves exactly the same care as the phone in your pocket.

And if the producer made sure to do it “alone, in the background, without complications” – that’s good. Because security shouldn’t require a PhD in computer science. Let’s leave it to the experts who really know what they’re doing.

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(1) Samsung Knox security applies to Samsung TVs with Tizen® released from 2015. The latest TV software update is required.