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It's been a few years that Samsung phones ship with the company's Knox technology. Secure Folder leverages this offering to create a local sandbox that's encrypted and separate from the phone's standard apps. Although this may seem like a niche solution, the app has now been downloaded more than a billion time on the Play Store, confirming its popularity.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 will support electronic IDs later this year
Only online identification at first, though — you'll still have to carry your ID with you
Samsung is working on making online identity verification easier by creating a framework that lets you store your ID securely on the Galaxy S20's embedded secure element (eSE) chip. The API will be available later this year, and is deemed safe enough by German and European authorities — the country will be among the first to let citizens store their IDs on the Galaxy S20 and use the eIDs to identify themselves online.
The march of Samsung apps moving to Google Play continues. This time it's Secure Folder that has made its way over to every Android Police reader's favorite app store. Whatever it is you might need to keep hidden from prying eyes, now you have one more way to keep the app up-to-date. Unfortunately, it seems that it's limited to Samsung devices.
For all of you Galaxy S7 and S7 edge users out there (on Nougat), Samsung has officially released the Secure Folder feature that we saw on the Note 7 for your devices. You can download it from the Galaxy Apps store and get to protecting all of your sensitive files. You can shove documents, images, and even apps in there to keep them safe.
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Apparently, Secure Folder is essentially an iteration of the existing Samsung My KNOX app. Secure Folder does offer some additional features (and also removes a couple, oddly), but if you have a recent Samsung device, I'd suggest checking out My KNOX as well - you'll get similar functionality and presumably the same great security benefits.
The biggest thing to note about My KNOX is that once activated and installed, it can't be removed. Just a friendly warning.Edit: Turns out it can be removed, but it has to be via the Play Store or the My KNOX website - it shows as unable to uninstall from the app manager for some reason, though.
Earlier this year, when the Galaxy S7 launched, it was loaded with something Samsung called "Private Mode." Private is, frankly, kind of lame - you can use it to secure sensitive files, photos, or voice recordings using Samsung's stock applications for those functions. I can see a use, sure, but this is a pretty limited sort of feature.
It's a regular rite of passage for new Android phones: most flagships get the root treatment within a day or two of being released, allowing power users access to tools and apps that most people aren't all that interested in. But there are some exceptions, namely those draconian carriers who insist upon locking the bootloader of their Android devices. Their reasons for doing so could charitably be described as "bull hockey," but they're pretty effective: it's sometimes months or years before these phones get rooted, if they do get rooted at all.
One of the less exciting (but still important) announcements at Google I/O 2014 was that Google will be adopting part of Samsung KNOX as a security platform in Android itself. KNOX, which is currently only on Samsung devices, is a business-oriented security solution that keeps work and personal data separate and secure on a single device. Sounds pretty good, right? Not to BlackBerry CEO John Chen, but you know what is good enough? You'll never guess – a BlackBerry. Obviously.
We've heard that Google intended to really make a push for greater corporate adoption with the L release, and the company touched on some of its plans in today's keynote. It confirmed that Android will empower companies to separate personal data from work data using containers without outside companies having to apply additional code to their devices. Interestingly, this comes thanks in part to Samsung, which has contributed some of its KNOX code to the next version of Android.
[MWC 2014] Samsung Announces KNOX Updates, New KNOX Marketplace, And Other Security Enhancements
[MWC 2014] Samsung Announces KNOX Updates, New KNOX Marketplace, And Other Security Enhancements
Samsung has announced a slew of improvements to its KNOX enterprise security product at this year's Mobile World Congress. For starters, users can now manage two separate secure containers per device, ideal for consultants with multiple clients or people who just want to better separate work data from personal files.
Described by the Wall Street Journal as "a vulnerability that could allow malicious software to track emails and record data communications," a potential vulnerability in Samsung's Knox platform was discovered in late December by researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University. The researchers said the vulnerability would allow those with malicious intent to "easily intercept" secure data from Knox users. Samsung's initial response was that the problem may be less serious than researchers implied, and that it would investigate the situation thoroughly. Resolving - or at least addressing - the issue would be an important step for Samsung, as it hopes to position its Knox-enabled devices as viable options for those in need of tight security.
AT&T's Galaxy Note II Gets Android 4.3 And Galaxy Gear Compatibility Via OTA Update (I317UCUBMK6)
AT&T's Galaxy Note II Gets Android 4.3 And Galaxy Gear Compatibility Via OTA Update (I317UCUBMK6)
Samsung has been rolling out Galaxy Gear support to additional devices since the end of October, lumping the functionality in with updates to Android 4.3. A leaked schedule provided a timeline of when to expect various Galaxy handsets across the big four American carriers to get updated, and many OTAs started rolling out right on schedule. Others have not. The AT&T Galaxy Note II's update has been somewhat of a tortoise, but it may soon cross the finish line, as the long-awaited OTA is finally inbound.
[For Developers] Samsung Releases A Batch Of New And Updated SDKs At Developer Conference
Samsung Releases A Batch Of New And Updated SDKs At Developer Conference
When a tech company holds a conference for developers, you can pretty much bet the speakers will have something new to share with the attendees. At the very first Samsung Developer Conference, this pattern continues as 5 new and updated SDKs have been announced for the company's various platforms. This batch of SDKs are centered on Android, Smart TVs, and enterprise development.
These days, it seems like everybody is trying to make Android more secure. As usual, rooting and modding are often casualties of this effort. Just over a month ago Android 4.3 broke the existing model for root, forcing updates to existing methods, and now Samsung is rolling out updated Android 4.2.2 firmwares for the Galaxy S 4 which fully enable the company's heavily secured KNOX environment. Fortunately, Chainfire is already on top of it and has updated his popular root software, SuperSU, to be compatible with the new system.
Samsung KNOX separates data and apps into containers, making it difficult for malware or intruders to gain access or cause damage where they aren't wanted, and it is integrated to a device's hardware and each individual level of the Android framework, making it a full-coverage solution. The software has been available to enterprises for some time now, alleviating concerns that Android isn't secure enough to protect corporate data and communications. KNOX is trusted enough to have been approved for use on the US Department of Defense's networks, and now Samsung is giving access to such security directly to consumers.
MF9 Update Rolls Out To Sprint Galaxy S4, Adds Apps To SD Storage Option And Other Enhancements, May Lock Down Bootloader
MF9 Update Rolls Out To Sprint Galaxy S4
Pick up that Galaxy S4 that is totally not going to explode and give it a glance. Sprint customers might just see the MF9 update begging for attention. Don't expect anything too major here, but after the download is complete, your phones should support installing apps from the Play Store onto MicroSD cards. Other niceties include HD Voice enhancements and additional wallpapers.
[MWC 2013] Samsung Unveils KNOX, A Secure Enterprise Solution For Workplaces With A BYOD Policy
Samsung Unveils KNOX, A Secure Enterprise Solution For Workplaces
The push for BYOD (bring your own device) policies in workplaces has been on the rise for the last couple of years, but many corporations have frowned upon Android devices due to "security issues" within the OS. Samsung is looking to change that mindset with its newly-announced KNOX solution.