{"id":13955,"date":"2026-08-04T11:28:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T11:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nile1.com\/en\/?p=13955"},"modified":"2026-08-04T11:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T11:28:52","slug":"samsung-purges-smart-tv-apps-over-covert-bandwidth-sharing-proxy-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nile1.com\/en\/2026\/08\/04\/samsung-purges-smart-tv-apps-over-covert-bandwidth-sharing-proxy-networks\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Purges Smart TV Apps Over Covert Bandwidth-Sharing Proxy Networks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samsung<\/a> has launched a platform-wide crackdown on its Smart TV app store, banning residential proxy software and moving to purge existing applications that covertly route third-party web traffic through household televisions. The decision follows cybersecurity research revealing that popular apps\u2014including games promoted directly by Samsung\u2014were converting smart TVs into commercial internet traffic nodes without clear user awareness.<\/p>\n

The technology giant confirmed it has blocked developers from submitting new applications containing proxy functions and is updating platform rules to explicitly prohibit residential proxy software development kits (SDKs). “We have already restricted new app registrations that incorporate such proxy functionalities on our Smart TV platform,” a Samsung spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We are currently implementing strict platform-wide developer policies explicitly banning residential proxy SDKs, and we are working to identify and remove all apps currently available in our store that contain these components.”<\/p>\n

The enforcement action was triggered by findings from Norwegian cybersecurity firm Mnemonic<\/a>, which discovered residential proxy code embedded in multiple apps across Samsung’s ecosystem. These proxy networks, known as “resproxies,” allow commercial entities to mask their automated web activity behind residential IP addresses. Once a user grants consent within an app, the software can operate as an “exit node,” silently processing external internet requests in the background even when the application appears inactive.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, Mnemonic researcher Harrison Sand rooted a Samsung television running Tizen OS to monitor its raw network traffic. Sand discovered embedded proxy code linked to Bright Data\u2014a major web data collection firm\u2014inside a basic Pac-Man game that had previously been featured in Samsung’s official “Editor’s Choice” app showcase. Sand noted that many affected apps operate as lightweight shells loading assets from remote servers, bypassing standard app store review protocols. “What was reviewed is not necessarily what is running,” Sand wrote in the report, warning that a simple server-side code update could instantly activate proxy capabilities across millions of connected devices.<\/p>\n

App developers frequently integrate residential proxy SDKs to monetize free applications, receiving recurring payments from proxy brokers based on the volume of bandwidth shared by users. Smart TVs are particularly attractive targets for proxy networks because they remain constantly powered, connected to unmetered residential broadband, and are rarely monitored by consumers for background data usage. However, turning home devices into proxy nodes carries significant risks, including degraded internet speeds, potential Internet Service Provider bandwidth throttling, and the risk of household IP addresses getting blacklisted by security systems if routed traffic is flagged as malicious activity or aggressive scraping.<\/p>\n

Network traffic captured during the Mnemonic study revealed the proxy network was utilized for large-scale automated data scraping, including extracting public LinkedIn profiles and collecting datasets used to train artificial intelligence models. Samsung’s policy shift mirrors actions taken by competitor LG Electronics, which announced a similar ban after cybersecurity audits revealed that approximately 42% of applications hosted on its webOS Smart TV platform contained residential proxy software.<\/p>\n

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