Samsung bans smart TV apps that share users’ internet connections with strangers
Samsung is banning smart TV apps that secretly share users' internet connections with strangers, after security research found several popular apps on its platform contained hidden "residential proxy" code. This code can turn a smart TV into an always-on tunnel for outsiders' web traffic, potentially exposing millions of devices to hijacking, and matters because such networks are increasingly linked to cybercrime while being hard for security firms to detect since the traffic appears to originate from an ordinary household.
The research, published by Norwegian firm Mnemonic, found that many affected apps are barebones shells with only a few lines of visible code that load content from another server, meaning app store reviews can miss hidden proxy functionality entirely — one flagged app was even a Pac-Man game Samsung had featured in its "Editor's Choice" section. Samsung told TechCrunch it has restricted new app registrations using proxy functionality and is implementing platform-wide policies to ban residential proxy SDKs and remove existing offending apps, a move that follows LG's similar ban last month after reports found around 42% of apps in its store enlisted TVs into proxy networks.
- Samsung bans smart TV apps secretly sharing users' internet via proxy code.
- Hidden code let strangers tunnel traffic through victims' TVs and connections.
- Follows LG's similar ban after 42% of its apps found affected.
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Samsung is one of the world's biggest makers of smart TVs, which run apps much like a phone does. Security researchers at the Norwegian firm Mnemonic discovered that some apps available on Samsung's TV platform contained hidden code allowing outsiders to route their internet traffic through the television without the owner's knowledge, a practice known as a "residential proxy". Because the traffic then appears to come from an ordinary home connection, it is much harder for security firms to trace and has been linked to cybercrime.
The apps involved often looked innocuous, sometimes little more than simple games, with the proxy function buried in code that standard app store checks did not catch. This meant many owners had no way of knowing their television and home broadband were being used in this way. Samsung is not the only manufacturer affected: rival LG took similar action last month after separate research found a large share of apps in its own store had the same hidden function.
This matters because smart TVs are now common in households worldwide, and the issue raises broader questions about how thoroughly app stores vet the software they offer and how much control device owners really have over their own internet connections.