Securing Kodi streaming devices

Kodi streaming devices are less secure than one might think, even when only used within ones intranet. Third party add-ons and even  downloaded content such as subtitle files can leave your network open to malicious exploits.

The following precautions can help:

• Switch off SSH and Samba services on your Kodi box.
• Give your Kodi box a dedicated IP adres and use the build in firewall of other devices  in your network to limit access from Kodi to a strict minimum. As a general rule, Kodi boxes rarely need more than Samba and UPNP to a machine where your files are hosted (provided they are not on the Kodi-box itself)..
• If you stream content from a device in your home network such as a NAS, create a read-only user and have Kodi access your media solely through this user account.