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	<title>Betabeat &#187; The Final Frontier: WiFi Hack Broadcasts Porn On Best Buy TVs</title>
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		<title>The Final Frontier: WiFi Hack Broadcasts Porn On Best Buy TVs</title>

		<comments>http://betabeat.com/2012/02/the-final-frontier-wifi-hack-broadcasts-porn-on-best-buy-tvs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:35:25 -0400</pubDate>
					<link>http://betabeat.com/2012/02/the-final-frontier-wifi-hack-broadcasts-porn-on-best-buy-tvs/</link>
			<dc:creator>Steve Huff</dc:creator>
				
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.betabeat.com/?p=30392</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-30396" title="bestbuylogo2" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bestbuylogo2.png?w=300&h=201" alt="" width="300" height="201" />Signal hacking, which probably reached its Zenith with the infamous and surreal "<a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/remember-remember-the-22nd-of-november/" target="_blank">Max Headroom" hack</a> of a Chicago TV broadcast in 1987, may be making a bit of a comeback with the advent of WiFi enabled Smart TVs. That's one possibility suggested by the <a href="http://www.akascope.com/2012/02/24/porn-showcased-buy-televisions-wifi-hack/" target="_blank">WiFi hack of a South Carolina Best Buy</a> that displayed "<a href="http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/feb/20/porn-displayed-best-buy-television-customer-says-s-ar-3267256/" target="_blank">extremely, extremely pornographic</a>" images on several 55-inch TVs in the store's display.</p>
<p>Gloria Berg, who was in the store with her children at the time, complained to the manager. In an interview with a local TV station, Mrs. Berg told of the the manager's interesting response to her concerns:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote><p>She says the manager told her someone had used the store's WI-FI to upload the image to the TV's.</p>
<p>She says the manager told her the same thing had happened the night before and there was nothing the store could do about it.</p>
<p>"They, like, brush it off like it's...who cares?  Nobody cares.  It's pornography.  And we are getting adjusted to that kind of mentality.  That's why we are losing our morals," Berg says.</p></blockquote>
<p>The news station couldn't get a response from the local Best Buy but the corporate office issued a statement, stating that "two individuals" had hacked into the store's wireless signal "to broadcast inappropriate content on a smart television display."</p>
<p>Best Buy apologized for the incident(s) and said it would work to "ensure that it does not happen again."</p>
<p>Local law enforcement is investigating.</p>
<p>Techdirt recently wondered if Smart TVs were "<a href="http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120221/03352017827/smart-tvs-not-such-smart-idea.shtml" target="_blank">not such a smart idea</a>," noting that "the Smart TV is just a sales vehicle dreamt up and promoted by the TV OEMs. They had a bang-up decade updating everyone to flat panels, then pushing the upgrade to 1080P. They've had less success with 3D, and are looking for the hook to make another upgrade worthwhile."</p>
<p>That's practical, but in an age when the amorphous hacktivist collective <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57381598-17/scared-of-anonymous-nsa-chief-says-you-should-be/" target="_blank">Anonymous appears to worry even the N.S.A.</a>, the way Smart TVs are displayed inside big box retailers like Best Buy (or Wal-Mart) may present yet another opportunity for hackers to wreak havoc on the sensibilities of customers like Mrs. Berg or even launch an Anon-style protest to prove a point.</p>
<p>Or, like the "Max Headroom" hacker 25 years ago, just show unsuspecting shoppers <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqgeM6rWSkw" target="_blank">video</a> of themselves getting spanked with flyswatters.</p>
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-30396" title="bestbuylogo2" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bestbuylogo2.png?w=300&h=201" alt="" width="300" height="201" />Signal hacking, which probably reached its Zenith with the infamous and surreal "<a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/remember-remember-the-22nd-of-november/" target="_blank">Max Headroom" hack</a> of a Chicago TV broadcast in 1987, may be making a bit of a comeback with the advent of WiFi enabled Smart TVs. That's one possibility suggested by the <a href="http://www.akascope.com/2012/02/24/porn-showcased-buy-televisions-wifi-hack/" target="_blank">WiFi hack of a South Carolina Best Buy</a> that displayed "<a href="http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/feb/20/porn-displayed-best-buy-television-customer-says-s-ar-3267256/" target="_blank">extremely, extremely pornographic</a>" images on several 55-inch TVs in the store's display.</p>
<p>Gloria Berg, who was in the store with her children at the time, complained to the manager. In an interview with a local TV station, Mrs. Berg told of the the manager's interesting response to her concerns:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote><p>She says the manager told her someone had used the store's WI-FI to upload the image to the TV's.</p>
<p>She says the manager told her the same thing had happened the night before and there was nothing the store could do about it.</p>
<p>"They, like, brush it off like it's...who cares?  Nobody cares.  It's pornography.  And we are getting adjusted to that kind of mentality.  That's why we are losing our morals," Berg says.</p></blockquote>
<p>The news station couldn't get a response from the local Best Buy but the corporate office issued a statement, stating that "two individuals" had hacked into the store's wireless signal "to broadcast inappropriate content on a smart television display."</p>
<p>Best Buy apologized for the incident(s) and said it would work to "ensure that it does not happen again."</p>
<p>Local law enforcement is investigating.</p>
<p>Techdirt recently wondered if Smart TVs were "<a href="http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120221/03352017827/smart-tvs-not-such-smart-idea.shtml" target="_blank">not such a smart idea</a>," noting that "the Smart TV is just a sales vehicle dreamt up and promoted by the TV OEMs. They had a bang-up decade updating everyone to flat panels, then pushing the upgrade to 1080P. They've had less success with 3D, and are looking for the hook to make another upgrade worthwhile."</p>
<p>That's practical, but in an age when the amorphous hacktivist collective <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57381598-17/scared-of-anonymous-nsa-chief-says-you-should-be/" target="_blank">Anonymous appears to worry even the N.S.A.</a>, the way Smart TVs are displayed inside big box retailers like Best Buy (or Wal-Mart) may present yet another opportunity for hackers to wreak havoc on the sensibilities of customers like Mrs. Berg or even launch an Anon-style protest to prove a point.</p>
<p>Or, like the "Max Headroom" hacker 25 years ago, just show unsuspecting shoppers <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqgeM6rWSkw" target="_blank">video</a> of themselves getting spanked with flyswatters.</p>
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