Cheap Android TV streaming devices may have dangerous backdoors to China

Human Security researchers found seven Android TV boxes and one tablet with the backdoors installed, and they’ve seen signs of 200 different models of Android devices that may be part of this toxic hellstew, according to a report shared exclusively with WIRED. The devices are in homes, businesses, and schools across America and they are laced with malware and/or start communicating with servers in China when powered up.

Matt Burgess for Wired:
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In January, security researcher Daniel Milisic discovered that a cheap Android TV streaming box called the T95 was infected with malware right out of the box, with multiple other researchers confirming the findings. But it was just the tip of the iceberg. Today, cybersecurity firm Human Security is revealing new details about the scope of the infected devices and the hidden, interconnected web of fraud schemes linked to the streaming boxes.
Human Security researchers found seven Android TV boxes and one tablet with the backdoors installed, and they’ve seen signs of 200 different models of Android devices that may be impacted, according to a report shared exclusively with WIRED. The devices are in homes, businesses, and schools across the US. Meanwhile, Human Security says it has also taken down advertising fraud linked to the scheme, which likely helped pay for the operation.
The TV devices are built in China… “Unbeknownst to the user, when you plug this thing in, it goes to a command and control (C2) in China and downloads an instruction set and starts doing a bunch of bad stuff,” Reid says.
Human Security tracked multiple types of fraud linked to the compromised devices. This includes advertising fraud; residential proxy services, where the group behind the scheme sell access to your home network; the creation of fake Gmail and WhatsApp accounts using the connections; and remote code installation. Those behind the scheme were selling access to residential networks commercially, the company’s report says, claiming to have access to more than 10 million home IP addresses and 7 million mobile IP addresses.

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MacDailyNews Take: Yet another reason to get real Apple TV units, not cheap malware-infested knockoffs. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
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