SAMSUNG MESSAGE GUARD
PROTECTS USERS FROM NEW AND INVISIBLE THREATS
By Wanjiku ThukuSamsung Galaxy has found a way to curb the spread of security threats. Receiving photos attracts hackers to our devices, especially unknown links and attachments that ensure full security as cyber thieves who explore new methods of hacking. The latest trend of cyberattacks is zero-click exploits and only occur every time a photo is received. A single photo can hide malicious codes in it.While there has been no sign of such attacks on Samsung Galaxy smartphones, Samsung Electronics produced Samsung Guard to anticipate potential threats and develop preemptive safety measures. Picture this: your phone receives an image. It vibrates gently in your pocket before going still. Or it is on your bedside table, lighting up briefly as you sleep. You haven’t touched your phone, but someone may already be reading your messages, browsing your gallery, and copying your bank details.
Zero-click exploits are just the latest threat in an era of increased cybercrime targeting user data. One in three consumers around the world have been the victim of a data breach where their personal data was hacked. Data breaches are increasingly common, with rates more than tripling between 2013 and 2021. Threats evolve, but so too does Samsung’s mobile security. Samsung Galaxy smartphones offer comprehensive safeguards with the powerful Samsung Knox platform, and users are already protected from attacks using video and audio formats. Samsung Message Guard takes that security one step further by preemptively protecting your device, limiting exposure to invisible threats disguised as image attachments. The security solution currently works on Samsung Messages and Messages by Google. In line with Samsung’s philosophy of open collaboration, a software update will roll out later to let Samsung Message Guard protect you across third-party messaging apps.
Samsung Message Guard is an advanced ‘sandbox’, or a kind of virtual quarantine. When an image file arrives, it is trapped and isolated from the rest of the device. This prevents malicious code from accessing your phone’s files or interacting with its operating system. Samsung Message Guard checks the file bit by bit and processes it in a controlled environment to ensure it cannot infect the rest of your device. Simply put, Samsung Message Guard automatically neutralizes any potential threat hiding in image files before they have a chance to do you any harm. It also runs silently and largely invisibly in the background and does not need to be activated by the user. So where previously you could be endangered without doing anything, now you are protected from zero-click exploits without lifting a finger.
Samsung Message Guard is just the latest forward-looking security solution from Samsung. Separately, Samsung Galaxy devices already supply industry-leading security and privacy protections in other areas, thanks to the award-winning Samsung Knox. This supplies end-to-end protection across every layer of hardware and software, as well as real-time threat detection. Samsung Message Guard is a solution on the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. It will be gradually rolled out to other Galaxy smartphones and tablets later this year.
