Samsung Electronics has enhanced its Knox security platform to give corporate owners of two of its devices the ability to set up secure synchronization of email, calendars and contacts with their desktops but without bothering IT staff.
The hitch is the capability is restricted to those who own a Samsung Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Note 4, and work for an organization that has a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync account.
According to Samsung the solution, called My Knox, creates a virtual Android workspace within the devices with its own home screen, launcher, apps and widgets. Users administer the device through the My Knox portal to remotely find, wipe or lock the handset.
Knox is based on a special chipset on a limited number of Galaxy devices that secures the Android kernel. A container enables mobile management devices to separate corporate and personal applications and data, and AES 256-bit encryption for data on the device and SD card to limit the odds the device can be compromised.
Separately, Samsung also said Thursday it has reorganized its Knox EMM cloud service for Android and iOS devices for enterprises that don’t want an on-premise mobile device management suite. The new Knox Premium service includes EMM, Workspace, a secured container for business data and the optional Knox IAM, an identity and access management service. Premium also offers Active Directory integration, mobile application management through whitelisting/blacklisting apps and other capabilities.
“With KNOX Premium we offer you the highest levels of multi-layered security that keep data secure including hardware-based attestation, Trustzone-based on-device encryption and common access card support,” Samsung said. It costs US$1 a user a month.
A free version called Knox Express, which includes EMM and Workspace, can be used to trial the service, or for SMBs.