4 ms·

I wouldn't be that hard to make a small firewall to put in between the TV and the Internet, with rules that block unwanted traffic - or better, block it and inj

I wouldn't be that hard to make a small firewall to put in between the TV and the Internet, with rules that block unwanted traffic - or better, block it and inject fake data - while allowing normal use of the TV. This cheap SBC comes to mind, there's a very similar one from OrangePI too. https://www.friendlyarm.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=248 https://www.friendlyarm.com/index.php?route=product/product&... It would be nice having say a version for traveling with laptops etc if we don't trust the hotel connection and one to protect from being spied by the SmartTVs, where changing from one to the other requires nothing more than swapping an SD and reboot.

natmaka 7y ago
How will it detect unwanted (spying) traffic from legitimate operations (software update...)? Moreover it is a moving target, as the firmware can, at some point in time, use another endpoint (especially after an update).
- squarefoot 7y ago
  "How will it detect unwanted (spying) traffic from legitimate operations (software update...)?" That would be harder, especially true in case of encrypted traffic. "Moreover it is a moving target, as the firmware can, at some point in time, use another endpoint (especially after an update)." This one might be easier to fight than the former. Upgradabe black lists might be a solution, not unlike some antispam software work: the firewall software downloads weekly/daily from a central server (1) a list of all legit/evil addresses and checks where the TV attempts to connect against that list, then filters traffic as required. (1) I would assume we would trust a centralized server for this purpose as much as we would trust a server holding spam and malware sites.
  - natmaka 7y ago
    Each firmware update may come with a large list of endpoints. They also may use the very same servers (IP addresses) in order to spy and also for the updates or legitimate apps. For the customer eager to benefit from a connection to the Internet it may be a lost battle, he will be spied on.

natmaka 7y ago

How will it detect unwanted (spying) traffic from legitimate operations (software update...)? Moreover it is a moving target, as the firmware can, at some point in time, use another endpoint (especially after an update).

squarefoot 7y ago
"How will it detect unwanted (spying) traffic from legitimate operations (software update...)?" That would be harder, especially true in case of encrypted traffic. "Moreover it is a moving target, as the firmware can, at some point in time, use another endpoint (especially after an update)." This one might be easier to fight than the former. Upgradabe black lists might be a solution, not unlike some antispam software work: the firewall software downloads weekly/daily from a central server (1) a list of all legit/evil addresses and checks where the TV attempts to connect against that list, then filters traffic as required. (1) I would assume we would trust a centralized server for this purpose as much as we would trust a server holding spam and malware sites.
- natmaka 7y ago
  Each firmware update may come with a large list of endpoints. They also may use the very same servers (IP addresses) in order to spy and also for the updates or legitimate apps. For the customer eager to benefit from a connection to the Internet it may be a lost battle, he will be spied on.