Question about malware

by Hot-Aide-2847

Hello! I would like to ask about android tv in regards of malware, im new to smart tvs in general so id like to stay informed even if it is rare!

How do i know if its infected? The one here does not have an inbuilt scanner, so would things work like mobile with finding a suspicious app yourself and deleting it?

Would a factory reset be enough to remove it?

Apologies if this is a dumb post, anxiety can be a hassle, i wouldnt really ever use a usb or anything, im more concerned over something like a worm infecting it, thank you!!! (Also not really sure what to flair this as, so apologies)

dynamitepress

It'd be weird for a Smart TV to be infected with malware unless you sideload apps.

NorthReading

It's not dumb question .... I'm following this. Thanks for asking something I wondered about too.

faljse

There is lots of software on android devices, that isnt required to run them.

For phones, there is uad: https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater

I couldnt get it to run on android tv; but you can manually extract a package list:

  • install platform-tools
  • enable usb debug on device
  • adb connect <tv ip>
  • adb shell pm list packages -f > packages.txt

and check suspicious package names against uad database: uad_lists.json (large file)

Uninstall:

  • adb uninstall --user 0 <packagename>

Be aware, that even malware can be wired in a way that it is required by the system to function. Be careful, make backups.

just_freq

depends on the version, android 12 added alot of security features I believe, if you are concerned use apple.