As reported by TechCrunch, Samsung recently banned apps that share the users' internet connections with "strangers." Before the ban, "hundreds of millions" of users may have downloaded these apps onto their smart TVs, which put a huge fraction of Samsung's customers in jeopardy. These apps weren't necessarily shady, either. At least one of these apps, a Pac-Man game, was actually promoted by Samsung itself: The company featured it in an "Editor's Choice" area that customers would see on their smart TVs.
It might seem surprising that Samsung would allow such apps on its official app marketplace, but many of these apps had clever tricks to evade capture. Many were extremely simple programs and only contained a handful of lines of code. These apps would pull in content from a remote server, creating the illusion that they were fully functioning apps. But from Samsung's point of view, these apps were simple and safe. This isn't a Samsung issue, either: LG also banned respoxy apps, shortly after it came out that over 40% of the apps on its marketplace added users' smart TVs to proxy networks.
How to protect yourself from malicious smart TV apps
The good news in this case is Samsung has banned these apps from its app marketplaces. As such, you shouldn't have to worry about installing apps that will let outsiders tap into your internet connection. The same goes for LG as well. But not all smart TV manufacturers may have caught up yet, which means there is a risk that the apps you download on your TV could be malicious.
From here, general best practices will go a long way. Before you install an app on your smart TV (or, really, any device), inspect it carefully and exercise skepticism. Look through its app store listing, and make sure the description is free of spelling or grammatical errors. Look at the images, and note whether they appear high or low-quality, or whether they match the description for the app. Scan reviews, both for negative feedback from users, as well as obvious fakes inflating the overall rating. Investigate the app developer: Do they make other apps? Do those apps appear legitimate?
But as far as app marketplaces go, smart TVs have a poor reputation. As a general rule of thumb, it's probably best to avoid smart TV apps as much as possible. While mainstream streaming apps should be safe, there are too many possible loopholes present to say for sure whether various games and utility apps are secure.
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