Essay on Cybersecurity: How to Jailbreak Amazon Firestick on TV

Jail breaking is a term that is typically used when super users gain access to unrestricted privileges and rights to install apps and utilize functionality which is often off limits to the device owners (Morrison, Logan, et al, 2017). I wanted to jailbreak the firestick on the TV to circumvent iTunes digital rights management on music and movies.

How to Hack FireStick.

There are three major steps which I followed in hacking the Firestick. The first step was setting up the VPN on the Firestick. The second step was to download and install Kodi on the Firestick and finally was to install a video add-on.

Steps:

1: Hiding IP on the FireStick.

This is one of the most important steps involved in jail breaking of the Firestick. It involves hiding of the IP address therefore preventing the ISP against infiltration on what the owner is viewing on their Firestick. I therefore avoided getting copyright infringement notices on what I do online. However, very few VPNs work on the Firesticks but the Bullet VPN does work on almost all Firesticks. To enable the VPN on the device, I signed up with the Bullet VPN. The Bullet VPN are some of the VPN service providers who have an active VPN application used by Amazon Firestick TV. The application is free for downloading but one need to sign in into the VPN bullet account. The process of hiding IP address on the Firestick is very easy and straightforward where I followed the steps below.

The first step was to sign up for the VPN account since I had never signed up. This is done on the Bullet VPN website. Once you have signed up, you can then launch the Firestick and select Apps option. You then choose categories ad from the list presented above on your TV and click on utility from the categories presented as shown in the image below.

You can then scroll down to the Bullet VPN and click on Get. On selecting this option, then there is a download option presented at the bottom of the page on the screen. Download the Bullet VPN then install it and finally open it on clicking the Open option. After completion of these steps, the results should be similar to the image below.

Use you credentials from the Bullet VPN to sign in and choose a VPN server that you would like to connect to and then click connect. A connection request will then pop up on the screen and you should click OK. Wait for the connection to be established and then click the home button found on the remote of the Amazon TV.

2: Hacking FireStick with Kodi

The first step under this, was to install Kodi on my Firestick. The step involves two major steps including installing ES file explorer and installing Kodi on the Firestick through ES explorer. The ES explorer is the basis for installing Kodi on the Firestick (Jackson & Jamy, 2016).

Installing ES File Explorer on FireStick

It involves a number of steps; first is turning on, the Fire TV and move to the settings app then to the system and finally Developer options. Open Allow apps from unknown sources and while on the Amazon Firestick catalogue, move to the search box. You can then type ES Explorer. The final step is clicking on the ES Explorer application sign hence downloading, installing and launching the ES Explorer application.

Installing Kodi on FireStick via ES Explorer

While still on the ES Explorer catalogue or menu, navigate to the Tools option then to the Download Manager which is located towards the left side of the menu and click on New icon the bottom. You are presented with a file asking you to input the path where you type https://thevpn.guru/kodi.apk, name where you put kodi and click OK. You can download the kodi installation file and then install it after the download is complete. Return to the Amazon home screen and run Kodi application.

3: Installing Kodi Add-on

This was the final step where I installed a Kodi video on the Firestick. I first launched the Kodi app then moved to add-on. I clicked on the video add-on and selected the package installer icon located on the left corner at the top of the window screen. Then, I clicked on the install from repository then Kodi Add-on Repository and finally the video Add-ons. I clicked on the video that I wanted to add (The Fast and Furious 4) and waited to see whether the Add-on was enabled then navigated to the home screen on Kodi and selected Add-ons box. The videos now appeared here.

I can now gain access to the blocked TV stations on the Firestick. Moreover, I am able to view TV movies and shows without being identified.

Work cited

Jackson, Jamy. "How to Install Kodi on Firestick: 2 Simple Step by Step Methods to Install Kodi." (2016).

Morrison, Logan, et al. "Forensic Evaluation of an Amazon Fire TV Stick." IFIP International Conference on Digital Forensics. Springer, Cham, 2017.