Google Chrome and more intrusions...

[Externet]

Hi.
Perhaps it is IoT, perhaps nears it, perhaps not. But if you can help, please do. Or move to proper forum.
I watch/receive foreign television programming streaming with a HK1 mini TV box gadget on ethernet.

( Same as this ----> https://www.wish.com/product/5dad63...MIxMXtx9XY5gIVEPDACh3HWgUzEAQYAiABEgIapPD_BwE )

And has worked fine for a year. Yesterday, pornography, advertisements and Google Chrome pushing me to suscribe to its garbage appeared every couple of minutes interrupting the programs as pop-ups in a new tab. The equipment is unuseable now. Never been on WiFi, always ethernet wired and never touched by anyone else, never downloaded anything. Just used to watch overseas TV.

How to eliminate this crap from intruding ?

 

[unclejed613]

so, the box runs android... did you ever change the default admin passwords, or did you leave them as-is? those default passwords are hard coded in the firmware on many IOT devices, and lists of the default admin user names and passwords are all over the internet. the only way to keep them from allowing access is to change the admin password from the default to a strong password. if you left the password for the admin account, and also left some of the settings (like telnet access and http access) at their factory defaults, then the box is wide open for intrusion from the outside. the box probably has ports open allowing it to communicate with the manufacturer, in order to pull updates or push statistical or diagnostic data. these can all be serious security holes, and it's very likely someone got into the box and "upgraded" the firmware with malware. first thing to do is remove it from your network immediately, because some botnet payloads are designed to attack other devices in your home network. seeing that it's also got wi-fi, the box needs to be powered down. as far as fixing it, you might be hosed there, because you don't know what's contained in the malware. it's a bad idea to connect it back up to the network, and if you try to fix it by copying the firmware using a usb stick, the malware could infect the usb stick as well. fortunately the box isn't very expensive. if you buy a new one, BEFORE connecting it to your network, make sure you change the passwords of the admin (root) user, as well as any secondary user accounts (many boxes come with two accounts admin (or root) and a default user (might be named "user" or "default" or "TV" etc...), turn off any remote access functions (telnet, http, ftp, and ssh). then you can connect it to the network...

btw: the link you gave has the box running android and not chrome... either way you still need to take some precautions. the lower the cost of an IOT device, the less was spent on security.... i wouldn't be surprised if there's a video on youtube on how to get inside this set-top box from the internet.

 

[Externet]

Thanks.
The box has no password that I know of, or if has the option has never been set, or both. New out of the box, was connected and has worked admirably well almost a year, watching foreign TV just fine on ethernet only. If I have to start setting passwords I prefer to put it in the garbage can.
Nobody else but me uses it. I have downloaded nothing.
One of the intrusions is an advertisement from Google pushing to install/subscribe/use Chrome every few minutes. Did a factory reset and 99% of the trouble is gone. Lost settings, configuration and presets, but still a good price to 'fix' it so far.

 

[pikstart]

The password proposed was not for anyone at your site but for hackers from the internet. If they did it once, chances are they will do it again. A pass will prevent that to happen again.

Ioannis

 

[unclejed613]

If I have to start setting passwords I prefer to put it in the garbage can.

with the number of botnets and script kiddies, you need everything password protected these days. the "life expectancy" of an unprotected device connected to the internet is about 10 seconds. a compromised device inside your home network can leverage attacks against other computers, phones, and other iot devices in your home network. if there is no way to set a password on a device, you don't want it on your network, period.