Android Malware Attacking Smart Home Devices Within the 'Internet of Things' BADBOX 2.0 currently spreading through smart TVs, streaming boxes&tablets

[Condobloke]

Jun 12, 2025

This Android Malware Is Attacking Smart Home Devices Within the 'Internet of Things'

BADBOX 2.0 is currently spreading through smart TVs, streaming boxes, and tablets.

au.lifehacker.com

BADBOX 2.0 is currently spreading through smart TVs, streaming boxes, and tablets.
A widespread malware campaign is currently affecting millions of smart home devices, including TVs, streaming boxes, and tablets running Android software. A recent FBI alert warns consumers about the BADBOX 2.0 botnet, which spreads through the Internet of Things (IoT) and gives threat actors access to home networks to conduct malicious activity.

Here's what you need to know to protect your system and devices from BADBOX 2.0.

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[KGIII]

IoT is great, except for the I part of it. Gving it access to the public internet is as bad as it is to put your printer on a network reachable by the internet. Smart devices are a great concept, until you realize that they're using software written by the lowest common denominator and will likely never see continued support.

 

[Trynna3]

I thought Android was immutable and all malware was to stick to the RAM, removed after rebooting the device. No?

 

[Condobloke]

This is true only for those stupid enough to connect the Smart TV to the internet.

The logical argument would be.....why have a smart tv if you aren't going to connect it to the Internet??....Isn't that what Smart Tv's are made for ?

 

[Trynna3]

I have a smart TV and I need internet to watch BBC iPlayer, for example. Good stuff there, my interest are mostly documentaries.
There are other channels that use internet connection, like crafting channels previously. They both seem to have disappeared now, being on internet. One went bust and not sure whether the other isn't struggling either.
I grant it that apps suck too often. Any social media is better accessed via a browser, if possible. Browsers give us better control, apps are limiting us how we can interact with the content. When social media disable me accessing them from a browser, I disable them in my devices. Simple as that.
I even mirror youtube to the smart TV from my tablet, watching it in a browser.

 

[theLegionWithin]

The logical argument would be.....why have a smart tv if you aren't going to connect it to the Internet??....Isn't that what Smart Tv's are made for ?

do they even make large screen "dumb" tv's anymore? my current monitor (a "smart" tv) is 49" and that's as small as I'm willing to go with.