Samsung Knox 2.0 brings two-factor authentication and better sandboxing
You may have thought that you could get away from more Samsung news after the tsunami of Galaxy S5 coverage, but Samsung never strays too far from the headlines in the mobile world. During the S5 announcement, Samsung promised a new version of its Knox security would be unveiled, and now we know what to expect. Not surprisingly, Knox 2.0 leverages the Galaxy S5's new fingerprint scanner, and offers quite a bit more for the enterprise crowd.
The new version of Knox will offer a special treat for those who grab the new Galaxy S5 by allowing users to set up two-factor authentication on their devices. This would mean needing to both scan your fingerprint and enter your password to access your data. Samsung also has plenty of new features for those with older devices, and many focus on making management easier for both users and the IT department.
Users get better sandboxing, so you can set up separate containers for different jobs or multiple locations or even as a way to separate your work data from personal data. It has also been made easier to get the apps you want and need. Now, any apps that support Android's multi-user framework can be installed into a secure container.
On the enterprise management side, there is a new cloud-based console for IT admins to keep control of devices, user accounts, access, and apps. The system now supports iOS devices in addition to Android as well. Samsung has also set up a new Knox Marketplace, where businesses can discover and install Knox services.
Samsung has been pushing hard to gain more share of the enterprise market, but the numbers are difficult to parse. Samsung has said that it has sold 25 million devices with Knox since it first launched in , but there are only 1 million active users. It also reported 210,000 new activations each month. Knox 2.0 will be rolling out in Q2 of 2014 and will require Android 4.4.
source: Samsung Knox 2.0 via ZDNet
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