That calm fish tank or clock app on your LG TV might be letting strangers use your home internet connection. Security firm Spur scanned 6,038 apps across LG and Samsung televisions and found 2,058 of them carrying software that pushes other people's web traffic out through your line.
A residential proxy routes a stranger's traffic through your home connection so the activity looks like it came from your house, not theirs. Companies pay for that because traffic from a real home address slips past blocks that catch data-center traffic. On your TV the proxy hides behind something harmless: a clock, a card game, a screensaver of puppies.
Why a TV is the perfect place to hide it
A TV is a near-perfect host. It stays plugged in and signed in for years. There is no battery to drain and no phone bill to spike, so nothing tips you off. Most people treat a TV as furniture, not a computer worth checking, so the app keeps earning money in the background long after everyone forgot it was there.
The apps ask for permission once. You tap through a prompt with the remote during setup, and that is it. After that, the proxy can keep running even when the app is closed. On some Samsung TVs, Spur found a Pac-Man app that frames the proxy as a choice. Keep watching ads for free, or accept and let your connection get used.
Many of these are not normal apps that happen to bundle a proxy. They look like thin games and utility shells built around the proxy code. The app is just the wrapper. You are the product. Honeygain, one named proxy vendor, did not respond to a request for comment.
How to shut it off
Go through the apps on your LG or Samsung set and delete anything you do not actually use, especially free clocks, fish tanks, and small games from publishers you do not recognize. An app you never open is safer gone than left running for years.
