Don’t use your smart TV’s browser
Although smart TVs let you browse the web on a big screen from the comfort of your sofa, their built-in browsers – and those you install from their app stores such as Amazon Silk for Fire TV (see screenshot) – leave you vulnerable to hackers and snoopers. TVs lack the antivirus and anti-tracking safeguards offered by computers and mobile devices, so their browsers shouldn’t be used for any online activity that involves entering personal information.
“Cyber-attackers can eavesdrop on the browser’s traffic and compromise the cookies that manage authentication to online services, such as social- media accounts or online banking, and impersonate people,” Dr Francisco Navarro, a senior lecturer at De Montfort University’s Cyber Security Centre, told the Guardian earlier this year ( www.
snipca.com/41114). In contrast, using your phone as a remote control for your smart TV is safe, provided your Wi-Fi network is protected with a strong password.