If you have a Samsung smart TV, chances are you already scan it for viruses regularly. You don't? Well, Samsung thinks you should.
The South Korean TV manufacturer's support account sent out a tweet urging users to scan their TVs for malware regularly... and then hastily deleted it.
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Luckily for us, the tweet remains thanks to Internet Archive's Wayback Machine:
Is there a threat to my Samsung TV?
In a statement given to the BBC, Samsung said that the tweet had simply been "posted for customers' education", rather than being posted in response to a potential threat to its TVs.
In a separate statement, the TV manufacturer also said that: "Samsung takes security very seriously and our products and services are designed with security in mind."
"Yesterday we shared information about one of the preventative security features on our Smart TVs, in order to show consumers proactive steps they can take on their device.
"We understand that this may have caused some confusion and we want to clarify that this was simply a way to inform and educate consumers about one of the features included in our products."
Why the company deleted the tweet so quickly remains a mystery; perhaps Samsung felt that highlighting the potential for its televisions to be infected by malware might not be a great marketing strategy.
We've reached out to Samsung for comment, and are yet to hear back. So, what should Samsung TV owners do in the meantime?
Javvad Malik, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, thinks that the onus should be on Samsung to make it easier to keep its products up to date and safe from malware – not on the customer.
He says, "at the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that malware is targeting TV's, but that's not to say it won't be the case in the future. Malware aside, this raises some questions around ongoing maintenance and reliability of devices."
"Getting users to keep their computers and mobile devices fully patched is challenging, expecting users will keep other devices up to date is not practical. Instead, manufacturers need to come out with better and easier ways by which their products can be kept up to date and secure for their customers."
He adds, "perhaps most importantly, users should be provided clear and easy-to-understand information as to what is expected of them so they can make the right risk-based decisions".
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Via The Register
