Cheap Android boxes and malware.

[phetphet]

Came across this article yesterday.

About how many of those common Android boxes seem to have malware on them.

https://apple.news/AvN29TT21TbyhJ1Y7Vt1I3w

[ezzra]

With billions of dollars being scammed on a daily basis all over the world, and with fake this and that right under our noses, sophisticated hacking into big business, government and banks, an infected Android box, while still not a good thing, is the least worrisome of the lot...

[topt]

5 hours ago, phetphet said:

Came across this article yesterday.

About how many of those common Android boxes seem to have malware on them.

https://apple.news/AvN29TT21TbyhJ1Y7Vt1I3w

Similar (but different) warning covered here back in April

https://aseannow.com/topic/1292075-buying-a-cheap-android-box/

 

[Expat68]

All I use mine for is watching TV. Switch on scroll for channel, that's it!!

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Expat68 said:

All I use mine for is watching TV. Switch on scroll for channel, that's it!!

Quite. I have had several over the years and not a problem. 

Google is very integrated so I have used a separate google account just for the android boxes. You don't need to lock an empty box.

[barmatt]

Mines just for watching movies, TV series and sport. Never store any personal or banking details on my box even though it has adware and security protection.

[scubascuba3]

I guess the risk is whether the box can get data from other sources in the wifi network? phone, tablet, laptop 

[BenStark]

Every Android box available anywhere in the world, be it a cheap or expensive one, is manufactured in China.

 

The more reputable ones like Nvidia or Minix will have fewer risks, but every box is loaded with malware. This includes those boxes provided by 3bb - true and AIS, because they are just a standard cheap box produced in mass by a third party company.

 

You may think it doesn't affect you because you have nothing to hide, but since it uses your internet, be it wireless or hardwired, it will see every other device on your network, and most likely see things on those devices you would want to hide from prying eyes.

[Mutt Daeng]

15 hours ago, BenStark said:

Every Android box available anywhere in the world, be it a cheap or expensive one, is manufactured in China.

 

The more reputable ones like Nvidia or Minix will have fewer risks, but every box is loaded with malware. This includes those boxes provided by 3bb - true and AIS, because they are just a standard cheap box produced in mass by a third party company.

 

You may think it doesn't affect you because you have nothing to hide, but since it uses your internet, be it wireless or hardwired, it will see every other device on your network, and most likely see things on those devices you would want to hide from prying eyes.

I don't use android TV boxes anymore, but when I did, I found it was best to create a guest wifi network (If your router allows you to) exclusively for the Android box and disable intranet access for that guest network. This should prevent the android box from being able to "see" other devices on your home intranet.

[gargamon]

I use Android tv boxes all the time. The only thing I'm concerned about is malware doing Bitcoin mining. This is high cpu usage stuff so I monitor the cpu usage when the box is supposedly idle. If it's under 10% then it's not infected. 

[dddave]

On 10/6/2023 at 10:22 AM, sandyf said:

Quite. I have had several over the years and not a problem. 

Google is very integrated so I have used a separate google account just for the android boxes. You don't need to lock an empty box.

You just have to make double sure when setting up the Google account in the box not to select any of the "Sync" or "Share" options with any of your other devices or accounts.  Very easy to inadvertently share accounts and a RPIA to back out. 

[sandyf]

12 hours ago, dddave said:

You just have to make double sure when setting up the Google account in the box not to select any of the "Sync" or "Share" options with any of your other devices or accounts.  Very easy to inadvertently share accounts and a RPIA to back out. 

My main google account is "googlemail.com"

[scubascuba3]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

My main google account is "googlemail.com"

googlemail.com is the same as gmail.com 

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

googlemail.com is the same as gmail.com 

Not quite, googlemail.com was used in the UK prior to 2010 when it was discontinued and merged with Gmail.

My post was a roundabout way to indicate I am not a novice with google as implied by a previous post, for various reasons I manage 4 google accounts, the android box being one of them.

[scubascuba3]

4 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Not quite, googlemail.com was used in the UK prior to 2010 when it was discontinued and merged with Gmail.

My post was a roundabout way to indicate I am not a novice with google as implied by a previous post, for various reasons I manage 4 google accounts, the android box being one of them.

Ok I'll make it clearer, googlemail.com email addresses also work as gmail.com

[sandyf]

19 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Ok I'll make it clearer, googlemail.com email addresses also work as gmail.com

Why do you think you need to be clearer.

You really think that after nearly 20 years I do not know how to read google emails, that is even worse than the guy that tried to tell me I need to set it up properly.

When Gmail.com started out the domain name was already in use in UK and Germany so a different domain name had to be used until they resolved the issue. Now both domain names point to the same mailbox.

As I said "Not quite" , didn't start out the same but ended up in the same place.