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Google Says a TV Box Maker Gave 1.3 Million Devices an Unwanted Side Job

November 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM EST · New York time

Google says it dismantled a backdoor in 1.3 million devices made by Android manufacturing partner Videostrong Technology and cut ties with the company. Google says the manufacturer secretly built the backdoor and turned the set-top boxes into a botnet. Videostrong has been banned from building or selling certified Android devices. The account puts a familiar home entertainment device at the center of a much less entertaining network. A set-top box is meant to connect a television to streaming services. According to Google, these devices also became part of a system controlled through a hidden access route. The scale matters: a small box can sit unnoticed beside a television, but a large collection of connected boxes can become a substantial network. Google says it has dismantled the backdoor, rather than merely identifying the manufacturer responsible in its account. The business arrangement came with an expectation that certified devices would deliver Android television. Google's description suggests that some also arrived with an assignment the buyer did not choose. The entertainment box apparently had a second program running, and it was not listed in the streaming guide. For a product designed to make choosing what to watch easier, the most consequential feature was allegedly the one the viewer could not select at all.

Satire. Not factual reporting. Read the original reporting from the linked publishers.