Advice Request ESET Smart TV Security

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notabot

Level 15
Thread author
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Oct 31, 2018
703
Is anyone using ESET Smart TV security? What is their experience with it so far?


The two main things of interest are

A. Performance/Does it slow down the smart TV? - Smart TVs tend to be slow on their own, so wouldn't want additional slowdowns
B. How does it fare with smart TV updates etc in terms of compatibility? I don't want the AV to brick the smart TV and make it unusable due to incompatibilities

Other points of interest,

C. Web filtering ( ie can I block via web filtering certain types of sites ) ? I see anti phishing but I don't see block sites by content/web filtering
D. Parental Controls ie confine use to certain times unless password is provided

If someone is using an alternative they are happy with, please let me know which one !
 

upnorth

Moderator
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Malware Hunter
Well-known
Jul 27, 2015
5,457
Tested a few months ago on a media center device. Easy to install and use but, the slowdown happened as soon I connected an external hard drive. Seams it perhaps was the automatic scan that caused the issue. I never did any real check to confirm it 100%.

One of very few security software solutions that worked on that device and supposed to protect against for example smart tv ransomware. But, if any malware would hit the device it would never be a disaster as only served as a connection point for free online tv services with useless information not used elsewhere anyway. Reset the device if possible and login with a new free account, so it felt in the end as overkill.

On a actual smart tv it might be worth. The full/premium version is available for 30 days if I recall correct, so any performance issues should be easy to spot during that time.
 
Last edited:

notabot

Level 15
Thread author
Verified
Oct 31, 2018
703
It's sad that this has to exist in the first place but this is our future. Anything that is smart will require pro-active security. OR you know they could have written the code properly from the start...

I'm starting to miss the "old" TV, it was unexploitable, didn't leak private information and parents didn't need to worry as much about the content, nevermind setting parental controls.
 

blackice

Level 38
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Apr 1, 2019
2,731
I'm starting to miss the "old" TV, it was unexploitable, didn't leak private information and parents didn't need to worry as much about the content, nevermind setting parental controls.
You can always just not connect it and use whatever desired streaming box you want, or just a blu ray player. I just don’t connect mine to the internet and use fireTV boxes.
 

notabot

Level 15
Thread author
Verified
Oct 31, 2018
703
You can always just not connect it and use whatever desired streaming box you want, or just a blu ray player. I just don’t connect mine to the internet and use fireTV boxes.

That's what I do with the old TV but not connecting it has a cost, at a minimum to buy an Ultra Chromecast (don't use fire but I believe the two are ballpark equivalent).

Does anyone use norton 360 multidevice on their TV? how does it fare with respect to the above, it's on steep discount at the moment.
 

Burrito

Level 24
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May 16, 2018
1,363
Vulnerabilities are everywhere in today's world.

Yeah.

My Sonicare electric toothbrush was hacked.

1573436836717.png



Through some sort of diabolical reverse-polarity-flux capacitor hack, bad guys actually programmed it to give me a cavity.

And it took pron pics of me in the bathroom.

Yep, it "revealed everything" all right...

I would get the ESET Smart TV Security if it also protected my toothbrush.

.
 

oldschool

Level 81
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Well-known
Mar 29, 2018
7,044
OMG! Where will this all end???? I don't need everything "smart" and "connected".
Yeah.

My Sonicare electric toothbrush was hacked.

View attachment 229576


Through some sort of diabolical reverse-polarity-flux capacitor hack, bad guys actually programmed it to give me a cavity.

And it took pron pics of me in the bathroom.

Yep, it "revealed everything" all right...

I would get the ESET Smart TV Security if it also protected my toothbrush.

.
 

Threadripper

Level 9
Verified
Well-known
Feb 24, 2019
408
While I see this as only a good thing, I think software updates (for as long as your TV gets them, another problem...) and network security are more important. Running a Pi-Hole should deal with some of the telemetry, too. The privacy settings for the Smart TV in my house were hidden away and hard to find.

Personally, I'd get a large monitor to watch what I want, but my family don't see that as a good solution.
 

notabot

Level 15
Thread author
Verified
Oct 31, 2018
703
While I see this as only a good thing, I think software updates (for as long as your TV gets them, another problem...) and network security are more important. Running a Pi-Hole should deal with some of the telemetry, too. The privacy settings for the Smart TV in my house were hidden away and hard to find.

Personally, I'd get a large monitor to watch what I want, but my family don't see that as a good solution.

Updates & Network security of IoT is super important and merits it's own thread, that I have covered to a good extent.

Regarding getting a monitor instead - monitors on sale are not as big as TVs, I went searching for a monitor first, expecting to find monitors in the size of big TVs but there doesn't seem to be a market for them unfortunately. Obviously they can be made, the engineering part would be nearly identical but in the current retail market, big size means smart TV not monitor unfortunately.
 

notabot

Level 15
Thread author
Verified
Oct 31, 2018
703
Yeah.

My Sonicare electric toothbrush was hacked.

View attachment 229576


Through some sort of diabolical reverse-polarity-flux capacitor hack, bad guys actually programmed it to give me a cavity.

And it took pron pics of me in the bathroom.

Yep, it "revealed everything" all right...

I would get the ESET Smart TV Security if it also protected my toothbrush.

.

For a smart TV all it takes to get infected is an underage user, not a reverse-polarity-flux capacitor hack.
 

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