The U.S. Department of Defense adds 5 Samsung Galaxy Devices with the KNOX platform to Approved Products List (APL)

Summary:

* Samsung Electronics announced that five of the Samsung KNOX-embedded devices are included on the Defense Information System Agency (DISA)’s Approved Products List (APL) on May 14, 2014: the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Active, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.

The U.S. Department of Defense adds 5 Samsung Galaxy Devices with the KNOX platform to Approved Products List (APL)  

Samsung’s common criteria certified Galaxy devices with KNOX platform are qualified by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for use in U.S. Military, Federal Agencies and other regulated organizations

Samsung Electronics announced that five of the Samsung KNOX-embedded devices are included on the Defense Information System Agency (DISA)’s  Approved Products List (APL) on May 14, 2014. The five devices on the list are the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Active, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, all running Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) with KNOX. Opening up the unclassified defense networks to Samsung Android devices with KNOX platform, Department of Defense (DoD) users will enjoy a wider choice of mobile device in the field, on bases, and in offices, while increasing flexibility and driving down costs.

“More than just our industry leading mobile devices, the addition of these five devices to the APL with the KNOX Platform, brings together the holistic B2B vision of Samsung to lead the market in hardware and software integrated based secure mobility and user experience for the benefit of the U.S Government in delivering on their mission.” said Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business, IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “Moreover, it is the unique combination of security and interoperability that enables Samsung to meet the DoD’s rigorous requirements with an unparalleled selection of commercial off-the-shelf devices, pre-approved for U.S. military and federal use.”

The APL, published by the DISA, provides a catalog of officially approved multi-function mobile devices to support secure mobility for the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Government agencies and security-sensitive organizations.  To meet the rigorous DISA approval process, the KNOX-embedded devices demonstrated compliance with over one hundred unique requirements, ranging from encryption to intrusion detection to key exchange to support for secure networking standards.

Along with that, Security Technical Implementation Guide, or STIG, for Samsung KNOX-enabled devices was upgraded to version 2, which is based on Security Functional Requirements in the NIAP Mobile Device Fundamental Protection Profile, in April 2014 after the first version released in May 2013.

Samsung’s Android STIG with KNOX provides the technical security policies, requirements, and implementation details for applying comprehensive security protocols to the Android operating system utilized in many of Samsung’s mobile devices. DoD policy requires that all IT used to handle DoD information must comply with the highest cyber security policies, standards, architectures, security controls, and validation procedures.

Samsung has been actively seeking security certifications from the government bodies across the globe for Samsung KNOX embedded devices to be used in government networks worldwide. As a result of the initiatives, UK government recently published End User Device (EUD) Security Guidance for Samsung KNOX on using select Samsung Android devices. Additionally, MDFPP Common Criteria was certified for Galaxy S5 and Note 10.1 2014 Edition in May 2014 and Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 in Feb 2014 each.