The Kodi Remote Access Threat, and How To Protect Yourself

Protecting Kodi like any other service

Once again it seems it’s time to stress the importance of setting strong, unique passwords for every website and online service, since this is yet another perfect example of limited interest people have for such an important chore. The center of the issue with Kodi here is the Chorus 2 interface, which was introduced in 2016 and permits not only authorized but also unauthorized users to remotely access the software, essentially acting as a web page.

Anyone that knows another user’s IP address can discover their Kodi insights simply by typing “:8080” to the end of it, though they do also need to know the passwords, too. But this is not hard, since the streaming service attributes ‘Kodi’ as the default credential, and most people leave this password completely untouched.

From here on, messing with someone’s service is just a single step. Add-ons are visible and usable on another person’s system thanks to the web interface design of Chorus 2, just like any other content on the library. Custom settings are editable as well, which makes anyone able to alter such trivial things like enabling or disabling notifications or keyboard input, but even as much as changing usernames and file folders, too.

Password managers and VPNs for Kodi

In addition, don’t forget the importance of using a VPN for Kodi. While the service itself is not illegal, many of the add-ons by third parties are streaming pirated content. As such, downloading them without protection could have some serious legal implications, and that’s precisely where a VPN comes in, masking your real IP address and keeping your connections invisible to anyone that might be snooping on it. VPNs even work at unblocking restricted content from other countries, ensuring that your Kodi experience is the best it can be.