Samsung Now Advises Smart TV Owners To Regularly Scan For Malware
With good intentions, Samsung took to Twitter to remind smart TV owners to scan their televisions for malware, and the Internet reacted about as you would expect. Snarky and indignant replies followed, and of course so did the jokes. And with good reason—after all, Samsung just made one heck of an argument to avoid buying a smart TV.
We understand that periodically scanning our PCs for viruses and other malware comes with the territory. To a lesser extent, this can be true of smartphones and tablets, particularly if you venture away from reputable store fronts to grab your apps. But have we really reached a point where we must also scan our TVs?
Apparently so, according to Samsung, which preinstalls McAfee Security on its smart TVs. The company has since deleted its tweet, though not before BleepingComputer could snag a screen shot.
"Scanning your computer for malware viruses is important to keep it running smoothly. This is also true for your QLED TV if it's connected to Wi-Fi! Prevent malicious software attacks on your TV by scanning for viruses on your TV every few weeks," Samsung stated.
We get, the bad guys are relentless when it comes to launching malware attacks. But whether Samsung likes it or not, having to scan a TV every few weeks is a major annoyance, and one that did not exist before the advent of smart features.
As some users pointed out in response to the tweet, this is something that Samsung's TVs should perform automatically, if needed. Instead, users have to go into the TV's settings to launch the baked-in security software.
While the tweet has been obliterated, there is an article on Samsung's website from 2017 that outlines a "three stage model security solution" that exists on its smart TVs. It starts with the platform stage, with smart TVs being designed to encrypt certain data, such as user account and password information. At the application stage, Samsung's smart TVs use anti-malware engines to prevent attacks. And finally there is a hardware stage, with a security solution at the chip architecture level.
"To add an even further, dual-layer of protection, Samsung also recently introduced the enhanced security application 'McAfee Security for TV' to its Smart TVs which once activated monitors for malicious software," Samsung states.
If you own one of Samsung's QLED smart TVs and want to follow the company's advice, you can initiate a scan by heading into Options > General > System Manager > Smart Security and then pressing Scan.
