LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps

LG Electronics USA announced this week its intention to suspend any applications on its smart TVs that are built to function as residential proxy nodes. This decision follows research published less than a month prior, which revealed that over 42 percent of games and other applications available on LG's webOS store permitted unknown third parties to route their internet traffic through a user's television.

The security firm Spur published research on July 2, detailing the widespread use of residential proxy software development kits (SDKs) within smart TV applications. Spur's investigation found that a significant portion of apps on LG smart TVs, specifically more than 42 percent, contained SDKs that effectively turned the televisions into proxy nodes. The research also indicated that over a quarter of apps designed for Samsung's Tizen operating system exhibited similar residential proxy functionalities.

In response to these findings, LG Senior Vice President John Taylor informed KrebsOnSecurity that the company is actively collaborating with app developers to eliminate the residential proxy option from their applications on the webOS platform. Taylor stated that developers who do not comply with this directive will face the suspension of their apps. He emphasized that a residential proxy network is not an intended use for LG smart TVs and that the company is committed to preventing their integration into its smart TV applications.

Taylor further elaborated that LG's review process for these applications is already in progress. As part of its ongoing commitment to improving platform quality and user experience, LG plans to reinforce its evaluation procedures for developer-submitted applications, including those that incorporate residential proxy SDKs. This proactive measure aims to safeguard users from potential security vulnerabilities and unauthorized data routing through their smart televisions.