Sanction Resellers of Compromised STBs, EFF Urges FTC

Pointing to malware problems in some Chinese-made Android TV set-top boxes and mobile devices, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is urging the FTC to sanction resellers such as Amazon and AliExpress. In a letter Tuesday to the commission, EFF said the AllWinner and RockChip electronics when online automatically connect "to a vast click-fraud network" without users' knowledge. It said that despite months of media reports about their malware issues, the devices are still widely available via resellers. Those resellers "bear some responsibility for the broad scope of this attack and for failing to create a reliable pathway for researchers to notify them of these issues," EFF said. It said that beyond reseller sanctions, the FTC should make it easier for customers to report compromised devices to vendors or to the commission itself, which can then ensure the vendor takes action. EFF said it also submitted the letter to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly.