Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor

Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by sithadmin on Thursday October 05, 2023 @08:58AM (#37778019)

Found it very amusing that the article begins: "WHEN YOU BUY a TV streaming box, there are certain things you wouldn’t expect it to do. It shouldn’t secretly be laced with malware or start communicating with servers in China when it’s powered up. It definitely should not be acting as a node in an organized crime scheme making millions of dollars through fraud."

These things have been the default expectation for Android devices of unknown provenance for quite some time, at least among the technically savvy.

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Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by happymellon on Thursday October 05, 2023 @10:00AM (#37778741)

I'm not sure why you are calling out Android.

I wouldn't trust a laptops Windows install that's been shipped from some random AliExpress account either.

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Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by T3OU-736 on Thursday October 05, 2023 @10:16AM (#37778910)

Or, really, any pre-installed OS from similar sources. Linux/*BSD/MacOS are just more of a rarity as a pre-installed choice, mostly owing to the popularity of Android/Windows.

I suspect iOS, due to Apple's policy of "no external app sources" and other similar decisions, much as HN's audience derides them, as a consequence is most resistant to this sort of a thing.

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Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by sithadmin on Thursday October 05, 2023 @10:44AM (#37779242)

You can wipe a generic PC and reinstall the OS, which will deal with all but the most nefarious malware.

No such luck with these random Android devices, generally. You are generally obligated to use the system image provided by the untrustworthy vendor.

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Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by happymellon on Thursday October 05, 2023 @06:29PM (#37785075)

Unfortunately Microsoft provide the Windows Platform Binary Table which is a documented vendor feature, rather than nefarious malware.

You can get a rootkit on every boot as part of your UEFI, and that's a bonus.

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Re:Cheap Android TV Streaming Box May Have a Dangerous Backdoor by heroprotagonist on Thursday October 05, 2023 @11:35AM (#37779963)

I mean, I don't trust their installs even shipped direct from the major laptop manufacturers either..

Or the Windows default install without all the modifications to the registry and group policy editor and privacy settings to turn off all the bloat and telemetry.

I mean, seriously, does Microsoft _really_ need to know every time I open an application?

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