UK gov certifies Galaxy S6, S6 Edge as secure thanks to Samsung KNOX
Samsung may see a boost in Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge sales in the U.K., now that that country considers the handsets to be secure enough to use in public agencies.
The U.K.'s Communications and Electronics Security Group (CESG) says that the pair of handsets meets the compliance standards for its Commercial Product Assurance (CPA) requirements after rigorous encryption testing. The software supports the U.K. government's Sensitive Data Protection (SDP) mandate for usage.
Samsung's "secret sauce" here to gain compliance the company's KNOX solution, which it first debuted in 2013.
KNOX provides a way to segregate apps and data between personal and work profiles, similar to Google's Android for Work platform.
It also monitors for modifications to a handset's bootloader; if it detects any tinkering with the firmware, it changes a chip circuit for detection. KNOX also supports remote device management for enterprises as well as managed app store functions.
Last month, Google and Samsung said they would be integrating some KNOX features directly into Android M, the next major version of Google's mobile platform.
The U.K. isn't the first government to certify Samsung's Android security platform. Agencies in the U.S., -- including the NSA and the DoD -- Finland, and Russia have previously validated that handsets using Samsung KNOX are secure enough for internal use.