Features included in Samsung’s security solution will be available to Android users

Jun 26, 2014 12:01 GMT  ·  By

Sundar Pichai, Google’s Head of Android, confirmed during his keynote at Google I/O that Samsung’s KNOX solution greatly contributes to the enhancement of the enterprise security included in the next version of Android.

Basically, this means that some of Samsung KNOX’s new features will be integrated in Android L, and enterprise users and IT admins will be able to use them, as a separate container, to secure business data whenever they wish.

“I am very pleased and welcome this ground breaking partnership with Google. As a driving force of Android powered mobile devices, Samsung is in a unique position to meet the rapidly evolving mobile security and privacy needs of Android users.

“We are delighted with the opportunity to work with Google to help build Android’s enterprise eco-system and establish Android device as the leading choice for businesses. This represents an amazing transformation in workforce mobility,” said Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business Group at Samsung Electronics.

Even though this is one of the first partnerships between Samsung and Google that gets officially announced, the companies collaborated many times in the past.

Some of the collaborations may not have ended well for one of the parties, but it looks like all old grudges have been left aside for the good of the Android market.

According to Samsung, its partnership with Google aims to solve the need of security on mobile platforms for enterprise customers. In addition, Samsung’s KNOX solution will contribute to the recently announced “all-in-one,” where users will be able to use a single device for both work and home environments without compromises.

Beginning this fall, the so-called “Android for Work” will benefit heavily from Samsung’s KNOX security solution, thus making the South Korean company one of the major contributors to AOSP (Android Open Source Project).

For those unfamiliar with Samsung KNOX’s achievements, here are a few details that should put you up to speed with the news. KNOX has been certified by the US Government and Department of Defense as complying with key mobile security standards.

This means that Samsung KNOX is perfectly suited for rollout in sensitive areas such as government and other highly regulated enterprise environments.

“Samsung has been pioneering to bring Android to the enterprise. We are grateful for their contribution to the Android open source project. Jointly we are bringing enterprise-grade security and management capabilities to all manufacturers participating in the Android ecosystem,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, VP of Engineering, Android.