Credit:Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has cut ties with the company behind MECOOL Android TV boxes after the company allegedly installed malware on these devices.
- The TV box maker reportedly installed a backdoor on its products and then sold access to these boxes, enabling ad fraud and the exfiltration of sensitive info.
- Google says it’s also made changes to its device review program to plug gaps in the process.
There’s no shortage of Android TV box makers, with brands like Google, Walmart Onn, Xiaomi, NVIDIA, and others all offering devices. Another notable brand is MECOOL, which offers budget-tier TV boxes on Amazon, AliExpress, and a variety of other platforms. However, it turns out that MECOOL apparently used its TV boxes to engage in nefarious activities.
Google said it and industry partners dismantled the so-called XCPE backdoor that turned over 1.3 million Android TV boxes into a botnet. The likely culprit wasn’t some arbitrary criminal group, either, but the company behind MECOOL TV boxes.
