Appletv hacked?

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Level 1

44 points

Appletv hacked?

I have a 3rd gen apple tv. Every now and then when I turn it on from standby, it's in a place I don't remember leaving it or sometimes never use. For example, today it was on flickr showing a photo. I don't think the kids are getting to the remote. Is it possible someone has remotely hacked into it and if so, how can I stop that? I've changed the password on my network and ran a virus scan on my mac just in case they had gotten into the network and were messing around there too. Scan was clean.

Any ideas?

iPad 2, iOS 4.3.3

Posted on Jan 20, 2016 6:01 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 20, 2016 7:12 PM in response to rgraves

Most likely one of your other IR remotes is being recieved by the Apple TV causing it to appear to act on it's own.

If you look at this article it explains that the ATV3 remote works without being paired and only needs be paired if other IR remotes are around.

I would pair or re-pair your remote and see what happens.

Pair or unpair your Apple Remote with your Apple TV (3rd generation or earlier) - Apple Support

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Answer 2

rgraves Author

Level 1

44 points

Jan 21, 2016 6:05 AM in response to Vinceassociate

Thanks, I'll give this a try, although there aren't any other apple tvs in our house and while we have a remote for an old imac somewhere, we haven't used it in ages. It sounds from the article that it's only an issue if there are other apple remotes around.

If it doesn't work, is it possible that someone has hacked into our network and is able to control the apple tv, rather than the apple tv being hacked directly?

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Answer 3

Jan 21, 2016 8:26 AM in response to rgraves

Remember the video out is to the TV, so not sure how they would see what they were navigating and what they would be up to.

It's more likely the Apple remote is getting pressed by the cat or dog or someone with the remote app is messing with you.

Check under settings and verify which remotes if any are paired with your ATV.

Also you could always do a restore on the ATV to rule out any software bugs.

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Answer 4

rgraves Author

Level 1

44 points

Jan 23, 2016 8:29 PM in response to Vinceassociate

Paired the remote with the appletv to see if that solves it. Also put the remote out of reach of kids and cats to rule that out. I was wondering if maybe someone had got into my network and was using the remote app, but as you said, the video out is to the tv so they wouldn't be able to do much. Changed the wifi password just to be save.

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Answer 5

vazandrew

Level 8

40,948 points

Jan 20, 2016 7:02 PM in response to rgraves

rgraves wrote:

Is it possible someone has remotely hacked into it

No

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Answer 6

rgraves Author

Level 1

44 points

Apr 22, 2016 7:34 AM in response to rgraves

Just an update - after pairing the remote and keeping it out of reach of kids/pets, I haven't experienced any problems since.

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