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Dear CNET members,

Happy holidays and happy Friday, everyone! I hope this newsletter finds you well. This week's topic comes from member Wayne, who is about to buy his first smart TV. And since these types of TVs enable you to connect to the Internet to stream movies, run apps, browse the Web, and more, he wants to know if an antivirus application is necessary for it to prevent malicious attacks that can possibly harm the TV.

While some of you think this is crazy, it might not be. A few years ago, who would've thought that smartphones needed antivirus protection? But now, we have many mobile antivirus suites over at Download.com. And as these types of connected devices become more and more powerful and gain in popularity, you can bet the threat of viruses and malware will grow.

While most of our members say that antivirus protection isn't necessary for these smart TVs today -- it's assumed that people who write the malware don't have much to gain from infecting your television -- eventually, as these connected TVs become mainstream, more powerful, and people adapt to using these TVs to do more online activities like they would their computers, the threats will eventually grow and those TVs will require some sort of protection. As member ajtrek mentions in his answer, currently only one company has developed anti-malware solutions for connected TVs, and I will bet within the next few years, you'll see a lot more security companies jump on the bandwagons in developing these apps to protect TVs as these threats become more common.

Folks please give all the answers to Wayne's question a read as it is an interesting topic. And if you have more information to share in regards to this topic, please join us and share your knowledge. Thanks for your time and contributions!

Before I bring this newsletter to a close for 2012, I want give a sincere "thank you" to the devoted readers and contributors. You are the ones who make this newsletter possible, and I appreciate all of you. On behalf of all of us at CNET, we want to extend all our warmest holiday wishes to you and your family. May your 2013 be filled with nothing but happiness. Take care and see you all next year! Just a reminder that the CNET forums are open 24-7 all year long, so if you are in need of some help with tech issues, join us in the forums. And if you missed any previous CNET community newsletters and would like to catch up on a few, they are all here for your perusal.

Lee Koo
Community manager

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