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Comment by pulse7 | Hacker News Reader

"If there's one available."

Just don't connect the network - use only HDMI. This will turn a "smart TV" into a "dump TV".

Smart TVs have been seen connecting to any open network automatically, like a neighbors.

This is disgusting, if true. That should clearly be illegal. (Though every wifi network should have a password at this point...)

Why ? I would give open Internet access, if there wasn't a law that caused me to be liable for what other people that connected through it did...

Trying to subvert the TV owner's wishes and exfiltrate the owner's private data even when they avoided connecting the TV to a network is what should be illegal. Not simply using an open wifi network.

I've got bad news for you :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI_Ethernet_Channel

You'd have to bridge whatever you're connecting the hdmi to make that a problem not? I generally don't have that kind of a setup for network clients. Least I've never seen a network device that was originating off the hdmi port in my life.

Can you provide more context?

The context is that there are many more ways network access might happen and that "just don't connect it" is short-sighted, naive, and missing the point. You personally might not have that kind of setup, but I can imagine there are home theater receivers out there with 8P8C ports that could by default act as an ethernet switch for HDMI-connected devices. There's also nothing preventing the TV firmware from being programmed to scan for and connect to any open Wi-Fi network if it has no network association, or network hopping if it has an association but still can't phone home. I'm not thinking in the context of you, me, and the other supernerds here on HN. I'm thinking of the generic Walmart consumer, probably using an ISP-provided Wi-Fi router or some other extremely uncomplicated network setup, who just wants to buy a TV and doesn't realize how many ways it can spy on them.

Sure, but just pointing out that the ability to carry an ethernet signal does not impart the ability to talk on the network the hdmi might somehow be plugged into.

If you can provide an example of a receiver that does this that would help. I'd like to see actual usage of this feature before I start worrying about attack vectors. From what I can find nobody has implemented it.

We're fighting the wrong battle if we are waiting to see which ways evil devices try to operate and block them instead of demanding evil devices not exist in the first place.

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