Organizations dealing with the so-called "bring your own device" phenomenon can now breathe a little easier when their employees whip out a Samsung Galaxy S5.
Samsung on Wednesday announced it has begun rolling out the next generation of its Knox enterprise security suite to its latest flagship handset. Knox 2.0, first unveiled in February at Mobile World Congress, is a portfolio of products and services designed to "protect device integrity from kernel to apps." It includes all the benefits of the original Knox offering (which has now been re-named Knox Workspace), plus an improved user experience and new tools for SMBs.
"Knox has been widely deployed by enterprises since it became first commercially available in the market in September 2013," JK Shin, president of Samsung's mobile business, said in a statement. "As a result of this rapid adoption, we needed to evolve the Samsung Knox platform to directly address the ever-changing needs of the enterprise as we demonstrate our commitment to protect and respond to future enterprise mobility and security challenges."
Knox 2.0 offers a wide range of security features, including certificate and encryption key management, real-time monitoring for modifications to the kernel code, data encryption, two-factor biometric authentication, and VPN support. Besides the core security features, Knox 2.0 includes a cloud-based mobile device management and identity and access management tool, as well as Marketplace, a "one stop shop" where SMBs can find and buy enterprise cloud apps such as Microsoft Office 365 and Box.
Samsung said it plans to bring Knox 2.0 to other Galaxy devices in the coming months.