Samsung Galaxy Devices with KNOX embedded First in Mobile Industry to Receive MDFPP Common Criteria Certification

Samsung Electronics announced that the company has selected Galaxy devices with KNOX embedded have received Common Criteria (CC) certification, as officially documented by Gossamer Labs of Catonsville, MD. Common Criteria is the international “gold standard” for secure and trusted systems, specifically to ensure that they satisfy the predefined set of security requirements designed for enterprises. Samsung KNOX confers enhanced security upon mobile devices, helping enterprises protect mobile access to high-value information assets.

Common Criteria certification assures that certified devices are independently evaluated and verified to meet fundamental security requirements specified in the Protection Profile. The current CC certification targets the new Mobile Device Fundamentals Protection Profile (MDFPP) of National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) published in October 2013, which addresses the security requirements of mobile devices for use in enterprise. The components certified in CC form a strong cryptographic foundation on which more advanced KNOX security features are implemented. This certification validates s that enterprises can safely provide their workers access to networks and high-value information assets using CC-certified Galaxy devices with KNOX embedded.

The entire focus of the Knox initiative for Samsung has been on bringing enhanced security to mobile devices. “This endeavor is about more than security, but rather on the noble pursuit of  driving the entire mobile ecosystem to bring the enterprise customer a better high-assurance solution than they have ever had access to,” said Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business, IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics

“In my twenty-five years doing security evaluations, rarely have I seen a company that could complete an entire Common Criteria evaluation, from the very first meeting to complete, in under four months”,  said Jim Arnold, Director of Gossamer Security Solutions. “At Gossamer we pride ourselves on our responsiveness and Samsung’s speed and agility as a company certainly challenged us.”

Certified Platform Availability

The first certification was performed on select Samsung handsets and tablets, and will be available across a range of Samsung devices starting in Q2/2014.

About KNOX

KNOX is an Android-based platform that addresses the many security shortcomings of Android. The KNOX platform retains full compatibility with Android and the Google Play ecosystem while offering fundamental security and management enhancements to serve the needs of both regulated and general Enterprise environments.

KNOX provides the hardware-level protection of both the Android operating system and applications running on it. The most comprehensive mobile device management (MDM) capabilities combined with its unique Application Container technology support both Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) and Corporate-Liable models without compromising corporate security or employee privacy.  KNOX complies with key US Government and Department of Defense initiatives and other standards for mobile device security, enabling its deployment in government and other highly regulated enterprise environments. The KNOX platform received the approval, called STIG, from US Defense Information Systems Agency to use in US DoD networks in May 2013.

Samsung KNOX brings together a suite of best-in-class mobile security capabilities.  KNOX boasts Secure Boot facilities, NSA Security Enhancement (SE) for Android (built on SE Linux), ARM TrustZone based Integrity Management Architecture (TIMA), on-device data encryption, DoD-compliant Mobile Device Management (MDM) and secure Application Containers to isolate untrusted apps and protect white-listed ones. Learn more at (URL) and visit the NSA at booth #1850 at RSA Conference 2014 at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 in San Francisco, CA.