Samsung Galaxy devices with KNOX receive the "gold medal" of security platforms

Samsung announced that the company’sselected Galaxy devices with KNOX embedded (seethe list) have received Common Criteria (CC) certification, asofficially documented by Gossamer Labs of Catonsville, MD. CommonCriteria is the international “gold standard” for secure andtrusted systems that ensures they satisfy a predefined set ofsecurity requirements designed for enterprises.

Common Criteria certification assuresthat certified devices are independently evaluated and verified tomeet fundamental security requirements specified in the ProtectionProfile. The current CC certification targets the new Mobile DeviceFundamentals Protection Profile (MDFPP) of National InformationAssurance Partnership (NIAP) published in October 2013, whichaddresses the security requirements of mobile devices for use inenterprise.

The components certified in CC form acryptographic foundation on which more advanced KNOX securityfeatures are implemented. This certification validates thatenterprises can safely provide their workers access to networks andhigh-value information assets using CC-certified Galaxy devices withKNOX embedded.

Jim Arnold, Director of GossamerSecurity Solutions, commented that “rarely a company can completean entire Common Criteria evaluation in under four months”. We say,good job, Samsung. Gossamer has over 60 years of experience inproduct security evaluations, and the Common Criteria certificationis, to put it mildly, extremelyelaborate. 

Moreover, this accomplishment certainly throws the gauntletto BlackBerry, which considers its competing enterprise securityproduct, BES, a superior solution. Although BB OS 7 and BES 5 obtained a Common Criteria certificationin 2007, BB 10 and related software products are yet to "win the gold”.

source: SamsungMobile