LG to ban residential proxies from smart TV apps
LG Electronics is moving to ban apps on its smart TVs that utilize residential proxy SDKs, which turn user devices into traffic routing nodes. This decision follows research indicating that a significant percentage of apps on LG and Samsung platforms were secretly using consumer hardware for proxy networks.
Why it matters
This highlights growing security and privacy concerns regarding the 'Internet of Things' and how consumer devices are being exploited for unauthorized network traffic.
The home appliance giant LG Electronics USA said this week it plans to suspend any apps built for its smart TVs that turn one’s television into an always-on residential proxy node. The move comes less than a month after researchers found that more than 42 percent of games and other apps available for download on LG’s webOS store allow unknown third-parties to route their Internet traffic through a user’s TV.
Proxy SDK prevalence among smart TV apps for LG (webOS) and Samsung (Tizen OS) televisions. Image: Spur.us.
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