Can your smart TV get a virus? Find out

Every connected device that has internet connectivity can be hacked or injected with viruses. Smart televisions too cannot get an exception from this. Samsung US support account in a recent tweet recommended users to scan their smart TV on a regular basis the way we do with our computers to ensure smooth functionality.

"Scanning your computer for malware viruses is important to keep it running smoothly. This also is true for your QLED TV if it's connected to Wi-Fi! Prevent malicious software attacks on your TV by scanning for viruses on your TV every few weeks," said the tweet.

If you own a smart TV we have a few techniques for you where you can ensure that the TV is not affected by a virus or any other malware.

But before learning the techniques, it is important to understand the reason why our TVs get affected.

1. The main reason is browsers and downloads

2. Another reason is the pen drives people to plug into smart TVs to watch downloaded videos which might contain some virus if not scanned correctly or if the video has been transferred from an infected system.

Follow these steps for a Samsung smart TVs

1. Turn on your Samsung smart TV and go to the option 'Settings'

2. Then, in the 'General' section, search for 'System manager' option

3. Now, select 'Smart Security' and click the 'Scan' button to trigger the in-built virus scanner

Follow these steps for TVs based on Google's official Android TV OS or TVs running on Android platform

Most of the TVs either run of Google's official Android TV OS or use Android as a base which supports sideloading of Android apps

1. Download a good antivirus app from a trusted source

2. Using a thumb drive transfer it to the TV and install it

3. After installation, run the app and click the scan button to initiate the process.

Please remember that these apps are designed to run on the mobile platform, therefore, you need to connect a mouse and keyboard to steer within the app.