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Urgent warning issued to millions of Fire TV Stick owners after crackdown over THREE new dangers to illegal streamers
The third one is dangerous even if you don't.
ILLEGAL streamers affected by Amazon’s crackdown on “dodgy” Fire Sticks risk serious danger in the wake of the ban.
Gadget owners have been issued three stark warnings by security experts following the global Amazon block of piracy apps on Fire TV Stick devices.
At the end of October, The Sun revealed how Amazon had begun shutting off piracy apps.
These apps would allow Fire TV owners to watch premium telly – like Hollywood movies and live sports – without paying the creators or broadcasters.
The device-level block meant that when Fire TV owners would try to launch their “dodgy” apps, they simply wouldn’t load.
It’s left TV pirates scrambling for alternatives, leaving them at major risk of cybercrime.
The first danger is that users seek out alternative websites and apps to watch pirated telly.
This would allow TV fans to dodge Amazon’s restrictions as they wouldn’t be using a Fire TV Stick.
But security expert Michael Tigges, of Huntress, told The Sun that this is one of the most common ways for dangerous “malware” to spread on the internet.
He warned that that are “entire marketplaces” set up to sell usernames and passwords that have been stolen using this kind of attack.
And consumer privacy advocate Chris Hauk, of Pixel Privacy, added: “Downloading pirated content from shady sites can often lead to malware infecting your computer.
“Either through the website itself, or via files that are often included with the content in the download."
“This can include malware disguised as video codecs, games, or video players.”
The other tactic that Brits might try is to buy a different kind of “cracked” device to plug into their telly.
Hackers take devices like Fire Sticks and modify them to allow for illegal streaming.
But it’s not just Fire Sticks that have been used for this kind of piracy.
And experts warn that if someone else is setting up an illegal streaming device for you, you’re in danger.
“At the end of the day, you can’t trust the person who cracked it,” warned Paul Bischoff, a privacy expert at Comparitech.
“They could be malicious and hide malware in the device.
“Or they could be incompetent and fail to properly secure the device, leading to other attacks.”
And that’s not all.
These dodgy device can see your home network exploited by crooks for profit.
Chris Hauk warned: “Cracked devices of any kind, especially in the case of Fire Sticks that come preloaded with apps to allow you to view pirated or restricted content, can contain malware or apps designed to use your device in botnets.
“Or for crypto mining, or other illegal activities, which could be traced back to your IP address.
“This could result in legal issues, or at the very least, higher bandwidth usage.”
The third problem comes from using VPNs – or virtual private networks – to try to mask your online piracy.
VPNs are a valuable privacy tool because they encrypt your online activity, scrambling what you’re doing to prevent spying.
So a VPN could be very handy for logging on to a coffee shop or airport Wi-FiWi-Fi network.
But this scrambling process – and a VPN’s ability to make it look like you’re logging on from somewhere else – makes VPN apps very popular for piracy.
However, you can’t guarantee the safety of a VPN that comes pre-loaded on a cracked Fire TV Stick.
And turning to free VPNs can also be dangerous.
“It is my highest recommendation to be dubious of free VPNs,” said Huntess security analyst Michael Tigges.
He added: “VPN providers must generate income somewhere, and I would urge users to be sceptical about monetisation of free VPN providers.”
And Paul, of Comparitech, explained: “Free VPNs still have to make money somehow. They might do so by tracking and selling your personal info, injecting ads into your web browser, or even infecting you with malware.
“Even if they do none of these things, a free VPN isn’t going to stick its neck out for you when the authorities come knocking and asking which of their users pirated Game of Thrones last week.
“Good VPNs maintain strict no-logs policies that ensure they never track what you do while connected.”
It’s worth noting that the way Amazon has configured its latest Fire TV Stick block means that even VPNs won’t let TV pirates get around it.
That’s because the block is enforced at the device level rather than by monitoring your internet activity.
A good quality, well-reviewed VPN is a great security tool – but steer clear of suspicious ones.
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