Cheap TV boxes may secretly click ads for fraud

Researchers at Bitsight say some inexpensive Android streaming boxes can be used for fraud by spoofing devices, routing outside traffic through a household’s internet connection, and potentially generating ad revenue. The findings describe an operation investigators call Fuyao Enterprise, uncovered by threat researcher Pedro Falé after observing an expired domain previously associated with factory backdoors on certain devices. Bitsight reports that many boxes identified themselves as phones from brands including Samsung, Vivo, Huawei and Xiaomi even though their software signals indicated they were TV boxes. The company also found evidence of apps linked to the operation, particularly on older H96 Max V11 units, while stressing that not every device is confirmed to include the software.