(CNN) – Those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on smart TVs may not only be beneficial to you, but could also be a way in to your home for cyber hackers.
The FBI is warning that smart TVs — televisions equipped with internet streaming and facial recognition capabilities — may be vulnerable to intrusion.
Some new smart TV features could allow television manufacturers and app developers to spy on customers, as well as cyber hackers.
In order to guard against spying, the FBI recommends that smart TV owners educate themselves on their device’s security settings (available from a simple Google search), change default network passwords set by manufacturers, and understand how to enable and disable microphones and cameras.
If a smart TV does not allow the disabling of cameras, the bureau says placing black tape over the camera is a simple solution to shutting out prying eyes. Tait says it is also extremely important for consumers to promptly install software updates pushed out by smart TV manufacturers.
