Android TV vulnerability: Hackers gain access to sensitive data

If you have an Android TV smart TV, you need to be careful. Because under certain circumstances, hackers can access data.

Smart TVs are a practical invention: you can easily watch movies and series on your favorite online streaming service and sometimes even talk to your TV via the remote control. But like all internet-connected tech devices, smart TVs also have their drawbacks.

There is currently a serious data leak in smart TVs running the Android TV operating system. According to heise.de reports, attackers can access services associated with a Google account – such as email accounts or cloud storage. This is only possible if criminals have physical access to the devices. However, there are also enough scenarios for this, for example with resold devices or those that are publicly accessible, for example in hotels or doctors' surgeries.

As heise.de explains, the problem itself is not new: YouTuber Cameron Gray reported it a few months ago. But only now Google has acknowledged the mistake. Gray had warned against logging into an Android TV device using a Google account, which contains sensitive data. Not only can cybercriminals have access to all the information stored in the account, but they can also access “services you have subscribed to through Google in a third-party service.”

Although the Chrome browser is not usually installed on Android smart TVs by default, it can be downloaded via a detour, as the YouTuber demonstrated in his video. After a US Senator learned of the clip and spoke about it to the online magazine “404 Media”, Google responded.

The company explained to a reporter from the magazine that most smart TVs with “the latest software versions” no longer allow access to it. They are also in the process of providing a solution for the affected devices. It is not yet clear what versions are intended and whether there will also be a solution for older versions.