Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › Is your Samsung TV listening to you?


Fat bottom Trump
9950 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4805

Subscriber

# 208992 8-Mar-2017 09:46
Send private message

Wikileaks has just published a trove of CIA documents revealing that organisation's cyber-tricks and hacking techniques. There is a lot to go through, but one titbit that stands out is the 'Weeping Angel' project that uses Samsung smart TVs as remotely-controlled listening devices even when they are supposed to be turned off, along with 'iPhones, iPads and Android devices'. Another is the leaking of these CIA toys to the bad guys, meaning not only do you not have any secrets from the USA, you do not have any secrets from anybody. Welcome to the fishbowl.   

 

 




I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage
 

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2 | 3

BTR

1510 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 459


  # 1733058 8-Mar-2017 14:34
3 people support this post
Send private message

Think I will be sticking to my non smart 6+ years old Sony Bravia for a few more years....

 

 

 

Personally I would like to see Samsung sue the US Govt for hacking into its products and breaching their terms in conditions. If not Samsung then governments start making a stand against the US.

1964 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 158

Trusted

  # 1733106 8-Mar-2017 15:30
4 people support this post
Send private message

     >Is your Samsung TV listening to you? <

 

No, but I'm damn sure my microwave is using my credit card! wink

 
 
 
 


3170 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1624


  # 1733127 8-Mar-2017 16:04
6 people support this post
Send private message

I am in the camp that I am willing to lose a bit of privacy for the sake of security. If they want to listen to my boring family conversations, go for it.




Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

gzt

10708 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1761


  # 1733136 8-Mar-2017 16:16
Send private message

Rikkitic: leaking of these CIA toys to the bad guys, meaning not only do you not have any secrets from the USA, you do not have any secrets from anybody. Welcome to the fishbowl.

It doesn't mean that. It means that many people will look at the vulnerabilities and understand the issues and develop detection and mitigation.

For instance, you can expect AV/security vendors to develop and include detection for some of these.

In addition, some of these vulnerabilities will already be well known issues and already used by bad people.

Samsung's tv privacy policy from a few years ago does not inspire any confidence: "Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition".

Having said all that, I'm sure there will be new stuff in there and it will be interesting to see what people like Bruce Schneier come up with in the next few days.



Fat bottom Trump
9950 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4805

Subscriber

  # 1733141 8-Mar-2017 16:20
2 people support this post
Send private message

scuwp: I am in the camp that I am willing to lose a bit of privacy for the sake of security. If they want to listen to my boring family conversations, go for it.

 

I think it depends on what the trade-off is. The problem is you have to take their word that it is in your interest and that nothing will be used against you. Personally, I would rather take a chance on security and have my privacy. I don't want to have to watch what I am saying around my TV in my living room. That really is straight out of Orwell.

 

 




I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage
 

2826 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 754


  # 1733148 8-Mar-2017 16:34
One person supports this post
Send private message

Rikkitic:

 

scuwp: I am in the camp that I am willing to lose a bit of privacy for the sake of security. If they want to listen to my boring family conversations, go for it.

 

I think it depends on what the trade-off is. The problem is you have to take their word that it is in your interest and that nothing will be used against you. Personally, I would rather take a chance on security and have my privacy. I don't want to have to watch what I am saying around my TV in my living room. That really is straight out of Orwell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

then dont get a smart TV 




Common sense is not as common as you think.



Fat bottom Trump
9950 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4805

Subscriber

  # 1733158 8-Mar-2017 17:06
Send private message

Actually I have one but only because the 'smart' functions I didn't want came with other things I did want. TV smart functions are rubbish anyway and it is not connected to the network. I only use it as a dumb monitor with other things that actually are smart and can be controlled. Whether the CIA has also hacked those or not I do not know.

 

 




I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage
 

3071 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 633

Trusted

  # 1733196 8-Mar-2017 18:10
One person supports this post
Send private message

There two comments that come to mind.

One that people are surprised the CIA (or anyone else) are doing this. I'd be surprised if they weren't.

Two, that we only seem to hear from Wikileaks about US based organisations doing this sort of thing. It's pretty obvious they're not the only country up to these tricks. I'll bet the Russians and others like China are doing the same thing. Why don't we hear about them from Wikileaks? Does one of these countries control Wikileaks?




Sony Xperia X running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
Nokia N1
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

305 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  # 1733201 8-Mar-2017 18:17
Send private message

Technofreak: There two comments that come to mind.

One that people are surprised the CIA (or anyone else) are doing this. I'd be surprised if they weren't.

Two, that we only seem to hear from Wikileaks about US based organisations doing this sort of thing. It's pretty obvious they're not the only country up to these tricks. I'll bet the Russians and others like China are doing the same thing. Why don't we hear about them from Wikileaks? Does one of these countries control Wikileaks?

 

 

Probably because any leakers are shot before they succeed in spilling anything!



Fat bottom Trump
9950 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4805

Subscriber

  # 1733203 8-Mar-2017 18:18
Send private message

1. Not surprised, just a bit sad that they feel the need.

 

2. Maybe the US just produces bigger and better leakers. I'm sure other countries are up to the same kinds of things and if they came out they would also be published, if not by Wikileaks then by someone. The problem with America is that it has always loudly claimed the high ground, so many find it more disturbing when that turns out not to be so.

 

 




I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage
 

22073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4685

Trusted
Subscriber

  # 1733204 8-Mar-2017 18:24
2 people support this post
Send private message

If samsung were listening they would know that I think the userinterface and picture quality is crap with how much I swear at it.

 

"Oh come on, how can you make the text _THAT_ blurry"

 

"Where the F..... is this judder coming from?!"

 

"Stop turning the F...... backlight down because its a dark scene you piece of S......"




Richard rich.ms

564 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 194


  # 1733223 8-Mar-2017 19:06

What does the Samsung TV use as a microphone to listen with?

20069 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6113

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  # 1733241 8-Mar-2017 19:42
Send private message

Rikkitic:

 

Actually I have one but only because the 'smart' functions I didn't want came with other things I did want. TV smart functions are rubbish anyway and it is not connected to the network. I only use it as a dumb monitor with other things that actually are smart and can be controlled. Whether the CIA has also hacked those or not I do not know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your smart tv isn't connected to the Internet, it's not smart.

3301 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1083

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  # 1733258 8-Mar-2017 20:00
3 people support this post
Send private message

Rikkitic: Actually I have one but only because the 'smart' functions I didn't want came with other things I did want. TV smart functions are rubbish anyway and it is not connected to the network. I only use it as a dumb monitor with other things that actually are smart and can be controlled. Whether the CIA has also hacked those or not I do not know. 

 

Just make sure when you're talking you have the stereo up really loud, stand really close to the person you're communicating with and talk softly. You also need to be away from the windows and have the curtains drawn just in case your voice creates vibrations on window panes which can be picked up by laser and translated back to speech by some simple software. Tinfoil hats also help! [/joke]

 

richms: If samsung were listening they would know that I think the userinterface and picture quality is crap with how much I swear at it.

 

"Oh come on, how can you make the text _THAT_ blurry"

 

"Where the F..... is this judder coming from?!"

 

"Stop turning the F...... backlight down because its a dark scene you piece of S......" 

 

You call them swear words, I call them sentence enhancers laughing

gzt

10708 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1761


  # 1733318 8-Mar-2017 21:13
Send private message

k1w1k1d:

What does the Samsung TV use as a microphone to listen with?


Some models with voice control. Don't know any details.

 1 | 2 | 3
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic



Twitter »

Follow us to receive Twitter updates when new discussions are posted in our forums:



Follow us to receive Twitter updates when news items and blogs are posted in our frontpage:



Follow us to receive Twitter updates when tech item prices are listed in our price comparison site:





News »

Video game market in New Zealand passes half billion dollar mark
Posted 24-May-2019 16:15

WLG-X festival to celebrate creativity and innovation
Posted 22-May-2019 17:53

HPE to acquire supercomputing leader Cray
Posted 20-May-2019 11:07

Techweek starting around NZ today
Posted 20-May-2019 09:52

Porirua City Council first to adopt new council software solution Datascape
Posted 15-May-2019 12:00

New survey provides insight into schools' technology challenges and plans
Posted 15-May-2019 09:30

Apple Music now available on Alexa devices in Australia and New Zealand
Posted 15-May-2019 09:11

Make a stand against cyberbullying this Pink Shirt Day
Posted 14-May-2019 20:23

Samsung first TV manufacturer to launch the Apple TV App and Airplay 2
Posted 14-May-2019 20:11

Vodafone New Zealand sold
Posted 14-May-2019 07:25

Kordia boosts cloud performance with locally-hosted Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute
Posted 8-May-2019 10:25

Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute in New Zealand opens up faster, more secure internet for Kiwi businesses
Posted 8-May-2019 09:39

Vocus Communications to deliver Microsoft Azure Cloud Solutions through Azure ExpressRoute
Posted 8-May-2019 09:25

Independent NZ feature film #statusPending to premiere during WLG-X
Posted 6-May-2019 22:13

The ultimate dog photoshoot with Nokia 9 PureView #ForgottenDogsofInstagram
Posted 6-May-2019 09:41


Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.


Support Geekzone »

Our community of supporters help make Geekzone possible. Click the button below to join them.

Support Geezone on PressPatron


Updates »

Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.

Alternatively, you can receive a daily email with Geekzone updates.