TV getting too smart?

[GreyGeek]

I'm not particularly good at firewall logs either but the DPT=8200 tells us what port the device is using to try and hit your machine,

Amusingly, outside of unplugging it I'm really not sure you can turn a modern TV off

I'm not that good at log interpretation either, that's why I didn't want to connect numbers between 1025 and 65535 with a port. I have no clue what various abbreviations mean.

[wizard10000]

...You may be right about DLNA (I just looked it up) but I never noticed what port it was looking at, or the ufw log didn't say. It was probing my laptop while it was TURNED OFF. Only unplugging it killed the probe.

I'm not particularly good at firewall logs either but the DPT=8200 tells us what port the device is using to try and hit your machine,

Amusingly, outside of unplugging it I'm really not sure you can turn a modern TV off

[GreyGeek]

Been wrong before, but I think that's most likely your TV looking for a DLNA server. My DLNA server (minidlna) operates on ports 1900 and 8200.

From their descriptioin:

2. How does Smart Interactivity work?
Answer: Smart Interactivity intelligently recognizes the content on the screen and in the future may display related interactive features on your device. This may allow viewers to enjoy additional, related content for a richer, more interactive TV experience. Users can, of course, turn off this feature at any time by clicking on this feature in the TV’s settings menu.

You may be right about DLNA (I just looked it up) but I never noticed what port it was looking at, or the ufw log didn't say. It was probing my laptop while it was TURNED OFF. Only unplugging it killed the probe.

One has to wonder what other devices are built into our electronics that are kept secret from us and used by our government, which has already been revealed to be the most dangerous threat to our Constitutional freedoms we've ever faced.

[TWPonKubuntu]

Using the link provided by sithlord48, above, reveals that you must OPT OUT of being "part of the data collective" via VIZIO. Data collection is ON by default...

Since the search link used Google(r), which has some privacy issues (some!), I used Startpage.com to do the same search term:

"vizio smart interactivity".

If you are still using Google(r) as your default search engine, PLEASE consider removing it and using Startpage.com, a "meta" search engine. This will give you the search results from many other engines, including Google(r), however it will be an ANONYMOUS search, without linking your online identity to the search...

RE the results; it reveals that many (most) people will simply not be aware that their "smart" devices are reporting all of their viewing and browsing activity... Be Happy, Don't Worry... NOT

Big brother IS watching. Not a joke.

[wizard10000]

Been wrong before, but I think that's most likely your TV looking for a DLNA server. My DLNA server (minidlna) operates on ports 1900 and 8200.

[GreyGeek]

Thanks for that link, sithlord48 !!!
I wouldn't have known that VIZIO was trying to penetrate my laptop ("other devices") were it not for my ufw. I shut that snooper down.
Keep your firewalls up folks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sithlord48]

they call it smart interactivity...

https://www.google.com/search?q=vizi...+interactivity

[GreyGeek]

How many of you cover the lens of your video cam when "you" aren't using it?

I've done that for years. A notepad page with the sticky side against the back of the laptop panel.

For cameras without an indicator light (or, IF you don't trust the light to come on when the camera does) there is an widget that fits in the panel. It turns red when the camera turns on.

[TWPonKubuntu]

No built-in camera on my systems, I unplug my external cam when not using it.

I won't buy a new laptop with a built-in camera or microphone, nor a "smart' TV.

Nothing offered by so-called "smart" system can make up for the loss of privacy that they represent.

I fear that the millennial generation will not understand this...

[Snowhog]

How many of you cover the lens of your video cam when "you" aren't using it?

[TWPonKubuntu]

Cue ominous music in background...

Keep an eye on the power light. If it ever comes on by itself, leave the room quietly and get a baseball bat.

Now it knows that you know that it knows....
[end humor attempt]

IoT is here and I'm not happy with it myself. Too many chances for a mistake to be made, aka Terminator scenario.

[GreyGeek]

This morning while checking the logs I saw something I had never seen before:

[UFW BLOCK] IN=enp3s0 OUT= MAC=38:60:77:78:40:c8:00:6b:9e:7b:21:dc:08:00 SRC=192.168.1.102 DST=192.168.1.111 LEN=60 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=64 ID=34453 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=59227 DPT=8200 WINDOW=14600 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0

The "DST" is this laptop. The "SRC" turned out to be my VIZIO SmartTV!

Why in the world is my TV probing my laptop now? It's been connected wirelessly to my router for four years but this probe attempt is the first I've noticed.
Perhaps it is getting too smart?
Or snoopy?

EDIT:
When I turned off the TV the probes continued. When I unplugged it they stopped. When I plugged it back in they did not resume.