The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recommends making sure that Internet of Things (IoT) devices and smart TVs in your home are properly configured to protect them and your other devices from potential attackers. FBI's recommendations come after a long stream of malicious campaigns targeting such devices that usually are unsecured, to either add them to large botnets or use them as a stepping stone in multi-stage attacks aiming for other devices like smartphones and personal computers. This advice aims to help you build a digital defense around your smart TV and IoT devices to protect your sensitive personal and financial information, seeing that they are easily reachable as they usually come with an Internet connection enabled by default. "Unsecured devices can allow hackers a path into your router, giving the bad guy access to everything else on your home network that you thought was secure," the FBI Portland Office says. "59.7% of routers have weak credentials or some vulnerabilities" and "59.1% of users worldwide have never logged into their router or have never updated its firmware," said Avast in its 2019 Smart Home Security Report published in February — the stats were extracted from data collected from 16 million different home networks and 56 million devices all over the world. The easiest way to protect your data from a hacker that manages to compromise one of your IoT devices is to secure your home network by segregating them on a separate network. "Your fridge and your laptop should not be on the same network," the FBI says. "Keep your most private, sensitive data on a separate system from your other IoT devices." The US federal law enforcement agency also advises changing the devices' default password with unique and hard to crack passwords, thus blocking any hacking attempts trying to use known passwords set with factory settings. Making sure that mobile apps paired with such devices don't have permissions that would allow them to harvest your information is also recommended, as is always keeping all your IoT devices up to date by enabling automatic updates whenever possible. "Beyond the risk that your TV manufacturer and app developers may be listening and watching you, that television can also be a gateway for hackers to come into your home," the FBI states. "A bad cyber actor may not be able to access your locked-down computer directly, but it is possible that your unsecured TV can give him or her an easy way in the backdoor through your router." Following a successful attack, hackers can take control of the smart TV in your living room or bedroom to spy on you using the built-in microphone and camera. For recommendations please visit OUR FORUM.

The US Federal Communications Commission last month put restrictions on US rural carriers, which rely on Huawei to deliver internet, phone and other services. Huawei criticised the decision as unconstitutional. Huawei has launched a legal bid to fight a decision by US regulators to shut it out of the American market. Speaking at a press conference at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen on Thursday, Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping said the company had filed a petition with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to challenge the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
What is Huawei trying to overrule?
The FCC last month barred American rural mobile providers from using the $8.5 billion a year Universal Service Fund to buy products from companies that pose a “national security threat.” The commission designated Huawei and ZTE as companies targeted by this rule, claiming that they both have close ties to the Chinese government and military as well as being subject to Chinese laws requiring them to carry out espionage.
What did Huawei respond?
Huawei is now asking the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision; the company argues that that the FCC has failed to provide any evidence to back up its allegations.

Read more: Huawei Sues US Regulators Over Ban on Rural Carriers Using Federal Subsidies