Skip to main content

LG’s WebOS 3.5 smart TV platform is the first to be certified by UL as secure

best TVs
Image used with permission by copyright holder
As our TVs continue to get smarter, the potential for things to go wrong only grows. This isn’t a problem exclusive to TVs, but any internet-connected device as well. With the most recent version of its WebOS smart TV platform, LG has made security a priority, which is why the company announced on Tuesday that WebOS 3.5 is the first platform of its kind to be certified by UL’s 900-1 Cybersecurity Assurance Program, also known as CAP.

“Our WebOS platform was developed with security in mind, and receiving this certification from UL, a trusted name in testing and certification, further validates those efforts,” Tim Alessi ,LG Electronics USA head of product marketing, said in a statement. “As more and more consumers embrace smart TVs and their capabilities to connect to other devices, information security is becoming increasingly important. LG’s WebOS is already considered one of the industry’s most intuitive smart TV platforms, and with this new certification, it will continue to set the benchmark for others to follow.”

If the UL name sounds slightly familiar, think lightbulbs, as the company’s certification often graces the side of the box. Cybersecurity is obviously a different concern than making sure that lightbulbs are safe, and UL CAP is much newer, having only been introduced in April 2016. That isn’t very long to measure how effective this certification is, but the company’s previous track record does lend a certain weight.

UL CAP is meant to be used with various kinds of connected home devices, TVs included. In the case of WebOS 3.5, the various tests required for certification include application security, software falsification protection, engineer mode hacking protection, and ensuring that proper authentication is used. Mostly, this is meant to protect you from the prying eyes of malicious hackers, but it can also protect your TV from becoming part of a botnet and then used to attack other devices or servers.

LG’s WebOS 3.5 is found in its most recent TVs, including the stunning W-series Wallpaper TV. For more information on WebOS 3.5, see the LG website.

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
The Beats Pill is back, baby!
A pair of Beats Pill speakers.

In what's been one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- mostly because subtly putting a product into the hands of some of the biggest stars on the planet is no way to keep a secret -- the Beats Pill has returned. Just a couple of years after Apple and Beats unceremoniously killed off the stylish Bluetooth speaker, a new one has arrived.

Available for preorder today in either black, red, or gold, the $150 speaker (and speakerphone, for that matter) rounds out a 2024 release cycle for beats that includes the Solo Buds and Solo 4 headphones, and comes nearly a year after the Beats Studio Pro.

Read more
Ifi’s latest DAC is the first to add lossless Bluetooth audio
Ifi Audio Zen Blue 3 DAC (front).

Ifi Audio's new Zen Blue 3 wireless digital-to-analog converter (DAC) will officially be available to buy for $299 on July 9. When it is, it will be the first device of its kind to support a wide variety of Bluetooth codecs, including Qualcomm's aptX Lossless, the only codec that claims to deliver bit-perfect CD quality audio over a Bluetooth connection.

Admittedly, there are very few devices on the market that can receive aptX Lossless (and fewer that can transmit it), so it's a good thing that the Zen Blue 3 also works with the more widely supported aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and LDHC/HWA codecs (all of which are hi-res audio-capable), plus the three most common codecs: AAC, SBC, and aptX.

Read more
The new Beats Pill might replace Sonos on my back porch
The 2024 Beats Pill and an aging Sonos Play:1.

If I were to build an outdoor stereo in 2024, I'd do it with a pair of portable Beats Pills instead of Sonos speakers. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

In 2017, after more than a decade in our home, my wife and I added a pool. With it came a covered deck, making what basically was a new outdoor room. Not uncommon at all in Florida, but new to us.

Read more