Prague, May 12, 2014 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has globally launched an improved security platform called KNOX 2.0. It thus provides even greater support to the IT department in the implementation and management of the company's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategy. The Samsung KNOX platform is no longer just a single product, but a broad portfolio of services that better meet customers' rapidly changing business mobility needs. The original version launched in 2013 as Samsung KNOX (Key Security Platform and Application Container) is now rebranded as KNOX Workspace. The latest version of KNOX 2.0 thus includes: KNOX Workspace, EMM, Marketplace and Customization.
KNOX Workspace is currently available for the latest Samsung smartphone GALAXY S5. IT managers can activate it for later use. KNOX 2.0 will also be available on other Samsung devices GALAXY through an operating system upgrade in the coming months. MDMs previously using KNOX 1.0 are fully compatible with KNOX 2.0. KNOX 1.0 users will be automatically upgraded to KNOX 2.0 after the OS upgrade.
“Since September 2013, when KNOX was first commercially available on the market, many companies have implemented it. As a result of this rapid adoption, we have adapted the KNOX platform to the ever-evolving needs of clients to deliver on our commitment to protect and respond to future enterprise mobility and security challenges.” said JK Shin, President, CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics.
New and improved features of the KNOX 2.0 platform include:
- Top security: The development of KNOX Workspace aims to become the most secure platform for Android. It offers a number of key security enhancements to better protect the overall integrity of the device from kernel to applications. These enhanced features include TrustZone secure certificate management, KNOX Key Store, real-time protection to ensure system integrity, TrustZone ODE protection, two-way biometric authentication, and improvements to the general KNOX framework.
- Improved user experience: KNOX Workspace provides an advanced user experience with new container features. It thus ensures a more flexible approach for business administration.
- KNOX container provides users with advanced features such as support for all Android apps from the Google Play Store. This means that there is no need for the "wrapping" process of third-party applications.
- Support for third-party containers provides better policy control in comparison
with Native SE for Android. It allows the user or IT manager to choose their favorite container. - Spilt-Billing feature allows you to calculate bills separately for applications for personal use and separately for work needs, and thus charge the company for applications for business or professional use.
- Universal MDM Client (UMC) and Samsung Enterprise Gateway (SEG) make the user registration process easier - the user profile is pre-registered to SEG via MDM servers.
- Ecosystem expansion: In addition to the basic KNOX 2.0 features that are included in KNOX Workspace, users will also enjoy access to two new cloud services called KNOX EMM and KNOX Marketplace, and to the KNOX Customization service. These services expand the KNOX 2.0 customer base to include small and medium-sized businesses.
- KNOX EMM provides a broad set of IT policies for mobile device management
and cloud-based identity and access management (SSO + directory services). - KNOX Marketplace is a store for small and medium-sized companies, where they can find and buy
and use KNOX and enterprise cloud applications in a unified environment. - KNOX Customization offers a unique way to create customized B2B solutions with serial hardware. This is because it provides system integrators (SIs) with either SDK or Binary.
- KNOX EMM provides a broad set of IT policies for mobile device management
