Now Sophos Wants to Protect our TVs from Viruses

It is the operating systems on our TVs that make it smart and with most of us now buying smart TVs there is an emerging threat of hackers writing infectious malware to infect our televisions. This has lead Sophos to form partnership with Ocean Blue to developed an antivirus software for smart TVs. The solution combines Sophos antivirus platform with Ocean Blue’s middleware for smart TVs and Set-top Boxes.

By 2015 over 80 per cent of new televisions and set-top boxes will be internet-ready, according to Futuresource consulting. This means our television will have either Linux or Android running on the inside. This offers us the ability to download apps to add features and services to our TVs it also exposes the them to potential viruses and other malwares.

With this potential threat Sophos has seen the need to protect our TVs as we would our PCs.  The antivirus solution will be base in the cloud and can be shipped either as part of the Ocean Blue middleware or as a standalone for the manufacturer or service provider’s own middleware. According to Sophos, the solution will offer maximum protection against virus threats, with the lowest demand on system resources.

Commenting on the partnership, Ocean Blues’ founder Ken Helps said, “The partnership with Sophos will allow us to provide manufacturers with middleware already prepared to defend their products against attack.” Ocean Blue’s other middleware products include HbbTV, MHEG HD, DVB-T2 plus others.

See also: Norton and Broadcom To Develop Connected Home Anti-Virus Platform