# Keeping your screens secure and running

> A screen on a wall is a small computer in a public place. Most problems with it are not clever attacks but open ports, shared passwords and nobody noticing it went dark. Here's how to close those gaps.

Blog · https://jonza.app/en/blog/signage-player-security-and-reliability · [TR](https://jonza.app/tr/blog/ekran-oynatici-guvenligi.md)

Published: 2026-10-21

## Why a screen is worth protecting

Behind every digital sign there is a device: a smart TV, a small media player, a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi. It's connected to your network, it runs an operating system, and it shows whatever it's told to show, in front of your customers. That makes it more than a TV.

The risks are usually ordinary rather than dramatic:

- A USB port within reach, where anyone can plug in a stick and play their own file.
- A TV whose settings menu opens with the remote, so a curious visitor can switch inputs or reset it.
- A player still using its factory password, or a password written on a sticker on the back.
- A screen on the same Wi-Fi as the guests, the card terminal and the office laptops.
- A management account shared by everyone, including people who left months ago.

None of these needs a skilled attacker. They need one bored person, one mistake or one former employee. The good news is that each has a simple fix, and most of them take minutes.

## Put screens on their own network

The single most useful step is keeping screens off the network your business runs on. A player only needs to reach the internet to receive content; it doesn't need to see your card terminals, your cash register or your office files.

- Ask whoever set up your network for a separate network (often called a VLAN) or at least a separate Wi-Fi for screens.
- Never put screens on the guest Wi-Fi that customers use, and never on the network that carries payments.
- Prefer a cable where you can. It's steadier than Wi-Fi in a busy shop and harder to interfere with.
- Change the router's own admin password if it's still the default.

> If you run several branches, use the same network layout in each. When something goes wrong, whoever helps you will already know where to look.

## Close the physical doors

A screen within arm's reach can be tampered with by hand. Look at each one as a customer would:

- Cover or block USB ports that aren't needed, or mount the screen so they face the wall.
- Keep remotes and keyboards in the back office, not on the counter.
- Where the device offers it, turn on a kiosk or locked mode so the settings menu can't be opened from the front.
- Put media players behind the screen or in a locked cabinet, not on an open shelf.
- Use mounts that need a tool to remove, especially for screens in waiting rooms, corridors and outdoors.

## Keep software up to date

Screens are easy to forget because they just keep playing. But the operating system underneath, whether Android, Windows, Linux or a TV's own system, gets security updates like any other computer.

- Turn on automatic updates where the device supports them, or set a monthly reminder to check.
- Schedule updates and restarts outside opening hours, so a screen doesn't reboot in the middle of lunch.
- Retire devices that no longer get updates from their maker. A cheap player that stopped receiving fixes years ago is a weak spot on your network.
- Remove apps that came preinstalled and aren't needed: every extra app is something else to update.

If your devices support a scheduled restart, a nightly or weekly one clears up most of the small glitches that build up on any computer left running for weeks.

## Protect the account that controls the screens

Whoever controls your signage account controls what every screen shows. That account deserves the same care as your bank login.

- Give each person their own login. Shared accounts make it impossible to know who changed what, or to remove one person without changing everyone's password.
- Turn on two-step verification, so a stolen password alone isn't enough.
- Review who has access every few months, and remove people the day they leave.
- Don't sign in on the screens themselves or on shared computers in a branch.
- Use a business email address for the account, not someone's personal one.

In Jonza, two-step verification works with any authenticator app, and you can see every device signed in to your account and sign any of them out remotely. If a laptop goes missing, that's the first thing to do.

## Notice when a screen goes dark

Reliability is mostly about finding out fast. A screen that's been black since Tuesday costs you every customer who walked past it, and usually nobody in the branch thinks to mention it.

- Check which screens are online from your management tool rather than waiting for a phone call. Jonza shows each screen's online status and when it was last seen.
- Name and label every device so you can tell the branch which one to look at: "Counter, left" beats "the one near the door".
- Keep a short note per branch: where the player is, which socket it uses, who has the key to the cabinet.
- Ask your vendor exactly what the player does when the internet drops: does it keep playing what it has, show a blank screen, or show an error? Plan for the answer.

> Put a sticker with the device name and your support contact on the back of each screen. When something goes wrong, the person on site knows who to call and what to say.

## Power, heat and the room around it

Plenty of signage failures are physical. Screens and players are electronics, and they don't like heat, dust or flickering power.

- Leave space for air around the screen and the player. A player taped behind a screen against a sunny window runs hot.
- Use a proper socket or a surge-protected power strip, not a chain of extension leads.
- Keep screens out of direct steam and grease in kitchens; it shortens their life.
- In shop windows, check the screen is made for sunlight and heat. Consumer TVs often aren't.
- If the screen and player can turn on and off on a timer, use it, so they rest overnight.

## A checklist for every screen

1. **Network**: On its own network or Wi-Fi, never the guest or payment network. Router password changed.
2. **Physical**: Ports covered, remote put away, player out of reach, settings locked where possible.
3. **Software**: Updates on or checked monthly, unused apps removed, restarts scheduled outside opening hours.
4. **Accounts**: One login per person, two-step verification on, access reviewed and leavers removed.
5. **Monitoring**: Online status checked regularly, every device named and labelled, a plan for internet outages.
6. **Environment**: Room to breathe, sound power, the right screen for windows and kitchens.

## The takeaway

A secure, reliable screen isn't the result of expensive equipment. It comes from a handful of habits: a separate network, closed ports, current software, personal logins with two-step verification and someone who notices when a screen goes dark.

Jonza helps with the parts that live in software: two-step verification, a view of every signed-in device and each screen's online status, so you can check every branch from wherever you are. If you'd like a hand going through this list for your own screens, our team can help.

## Questions

### Is a consumer TV safe to use as a sign?

It can be, with care. Lock or hide the remote, cover the USB ports, keep it on its own network and check it still receives updates. Commercial screens usually make locking down easier, but the same habits apply to both.

### Do screens really need their own network?

It's the step that protects the most for the least effort. A screen only needs the internet; keeping it apart means a problem with one device can't spread to your payments or office computers.

### How often should I review who can access the account?

Every few months, and always on the day someone leaves. It takes a few minutes and closes the most common gap.

### What should happen when the internet drops?

It depends on the player, so ask your vendor directly and test it: unplug the network for a few minutes and watch the screen. Then decide whether that's acceptable for each location.

## Read next

- [Device Management](https://jonza.app/en/features/device-management.md): Live status for every screen, tags for branches and floors, and remote settings without a site visit.
- [Supported Devices](https://jonza.app/en/features/supported-devices.md): The smart TVs, players and computers Jonza runs on, and how to pick one for each screen.
- [Which Screens Work](https://jonza.app/en/guides/which-screens-work.md): TVs, players, internet and mounting: what to check before you buy a screen for digital signage.

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Jonza is a digital signage platform by Erpa Teknoloji. Contact: info@jonza.app