With corporate and government espionage at such an all-time high, it is imperative that the devices employees use are as secure as humanly possible. Up until recently, BlackBerry devices and BES were the de facto standard when it came to enterprise use, and Samsung and BlackBerry are even teaming up. As more and more employees wanted to bring their own devices to work (BYOD), Apple started to slip in (more out of popularity than security). Samsung saw a great opportunity within businesses and worked on their own security system called KNOX…as in Fort Knox. Samsung devices are slowly gaining acceptance in the business community, and possibly more importantly, in the government. Samsung just announced that the UK Government body of the Communications and Electronics Security Group (CESG) has certified the encryption on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. While Samsung’s KNOX has been recognized by various governments such as, the US, Finland, Russia and more, this is the first mobile headset vendor to receive this certification in the UK.
Dr. Injong Rhee, Executive Vice President of KNOX Business, IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, said, “Thanks to our industry leading security credentials, Samsung KNOX devices are trusted and used around the globe by organizations in the public and private sector alike. CESG’s certification of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge will help us to go one step further in expanding our relationships with government organizations and large corporate enterprises worldwide, setting a new standard in mobile security.”
The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge already had received the UK’s NIAP Common Criteria MDFPPv2.0 Certification earlier this year, but now has formally be recognized by the CESG. The CESG is the main body tasked with assisting the Government Departments on communication security that complies with the Commercial Products Assurance (CPA) requirements. This means that the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are now recommended devices for the government and public sector groups, such as the police, local councils, hospitals and all government departments. They can now enjoy the use of the premier devices and KNOX on either government issued devices or their own BYOD.
Graham Long, Vice President Enterprise Business Team, Samsung UK & Ireland, added, “Mobile security and data confidentiality is of paramount importance to Samsung, and we are delighted that the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge have been recognized as the most secure devices for use by the UK government. CESG’s acknowledgment of Samsung KNOX is testament to the high standard of security offered by the Samsung Android platform and once again reinforces our leading position in area, helping to provide secure mobile technology to government organizations and businesses throughout the UK.”