Kodi TV Addons Spreading Malware

Published On May 1, 2019 | By Tom Huskerson | Now You Know

Millions of Americans are cutting the cord. People are dumping cable television and its high monthly bill for streaming television. But a new report from the Digital Citizens Alliance reveal that users of the popular KodiTV streaming app maybe opening themselves up to malware attacks.

Digital Citizens Alliance, a group of cyber security investigators, has reported that popular television piracy apps are equipped with malware that can infect home networks and steal passwords and other data.

According to Digital Citizens 12 million people in North America are using pirated devices. Hackers try to invade home networks by pre-loading malware into devices or in apps that are loaded from third-parties. Of the devices running on the Kodi platform, 70% of them access illegal content via addons or third-party apps.

Pirated Kodi boxes or jailbroken Amazon Firesticks are readily for sale on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Craiglist for $75 to $100. It is a one-time fee that a user pays for the device.

The report revealed that as soon as these devices are connected to your home network hackers could infect the network with malware by breaching your router’s firewall. Theses devices have little to no security provisions making users an easy target.

Kodi users are urged to make sure they understand the security risks that come with these devices. Keep in mind that a device that is “jailbroken” means someone has tampered with the device to make it work a certain way. That is not always a good thing. Kodi is not illegal but accessing content you did not pay for is. And make sure you download addons from the Official Kodi Repository. You can find legal Kodi addons here.

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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